West Kelowna

The District of West Kelowna will get a quarter-of-a-million dollars to assist in plans to upgrade the floor at the aging Jim Lind Arena.

Installation of the much needed floor is scheduled to begin April 1 at a cost of $1.1M.

Photo: Contributed - District of West Kelowna

MP Dan Albas, Coun. Rick de Jong, Mayor Doug Findlater, Coun.David Knowles, Coun. Duane Ophus and MP Ron Cannan were on hand for the funding announcement at Jim Lind Arena.

Okanagan-Coquihalla MP, Dan Albas, made the announcement in the municipality Wednesday.

Funds were made available through the Community Infrastructure Improvement Fund.

“Our government is committed to creating jobs, growth and long-term prosperity in our communities across Canada,” says MP Albas.

“By making these investments in local infrastructure, we are helping boost economic activity and maintaining a high quality of life for Canadians.”

Project activities will include removing the existing floor, installing new underfloor heating insulation and a cooling concrete floor and replacing the boards around the ice floor.

“This is excellent news for us and West Kelowna Council is extremely grateful that the federal government saw the merit in this project,” says West Kelowna Mayor Doug Findlater.

“This much-needed renovation project will mean that our popular Jim Lind Arena will continue to serve future generations, just as it has served us for the past 40 years.”

Recently, West Kelowna Council awarded the contract to to James Alexander Construction out of Kelowna and Palladian Developments from Nanaimo.

The contract bid came in $300,000 under budget.

Replacement of the floor is expected to take about four months to complete.