La Nation Council has selected an option on the size and design of the proposed sports complex in Limoges.
The municipality was unsuccessful in a previous attempt to secure a federal grant for the project. Council decided to revise the plan for the complex if the federal funding was not available.
At its January 25 meeting, council selected “Option B” of the three options for a revised plan for the facility. All three options included two indoor soccer fields, but the size of the attached community hall varied.
The option selected has the highest construction budget at $13,623,994 and includes community centre space for 150 people. Option A would have included a community centre with a capacity for 80 people, and Option C did not include a community hall. Option A had a budget of $13,114,893, and the budget for Option C was $11,616,377.
When making the decision, councillors took some additional time to reflect during the meeting before coming to a consensus on Option B. However, Option C, without the community hall, was not particularly popular.
“For me, C is not an option,” said Mayor François St-Amour.
There was some reservation among councillors due to the cost of Option B, and the fact that the project will be financed through a loan.
“It’s a big number,” said Councillor Francis Brière.
The municipality currently has $2,562,472 available in a fund for the complex, and a loan of $11,061,521.64 would be necessary to cover the remaining costs.
“We’re fundraising,” St-Amour noted in a later telephone interview with The Review. He said it would be great if $12.5 million could be raised through fundraising for the sports complex.
The site of the proposed complex is on Limoges Road between École élémentaire catholique Saint-Viateur, and the municipal water treatment plant. St-Amour said that the municipality is negotiating with the Conseil scolaire de district catholique de l’Est ontarien—the French-language Catholic school board, to discuss joint usage of the facility with the nearby school and any financial contributions that could result from such an agreement.
St-Amour said that the choice of Option B made the most sense for future planning.
“Once you build the proper size, you don’t have to go back and add to it later on.”
Before construction of the new Limoges sports complex can begin, La Nation still has to choose contractors for the projects and the project management team has to coordinate various aspects of the project.
