Aylmer-side sports complex and gymnastics facility still being ‘evaluated’ - Gatineau city officials

Hoping to provide Gatineau’s west-end with a state-of-the-art multi-rink sports and recreational facility in the near future, Gatineau officials recently announced their intention to keep evaluating the project’s potential concepts this summer before presenting results of the analysis to municipal council this fall. According to a press release issued by the city on July 8, the new facility will be located at 275 boulevard du Plateau - in the core of a fast-developing neighbourhood – and is intended to accommodate the needs of an ever-growing population.

The city says the project will serve as a replacement for the Cholette, Jean-Paul-Sabourin, and Stade-Pierre-Lafontaine arenas. They are slated to close, as part of the city’s municipal rink maintenance and response plan adopted in June 2017. The city statement clarified that both existing Aylmer rinks – Isabelle-et-Paul-Duschesnay and Frank-Robinson – will remain open. Hoping to fulfill the population’s expectations of the project and meet current standards, the city said it required a refined evaluation process to decide exactly what the new complex will offer, how it will be run, and how much it will cost to build and operate.

In December 2019, the city issued a call for tendering to hire a contractor for the construction of a multi-ice sports complex in the west end.

---No tenders submitted, repeat of Marina building situation

Despite postponing the tendering deadline twice after listening to interested contractors’ thoughts about it, the city eventually saw the deadline close without receiving any project proposals.

Upon receiving more feedback from prospecting developers, the city decided that it needed to re-evaluate the project’s concept. From that it will evaluate six different construction scenarios. The evaluation criteria to select the project’s concept will prioritize meeting the population’s needs, moderating construction costs, site capacity and parking requirements, the building’s versatility and compatibility with other sports installations, how it will be managed (publicly, privately, or both), and operational costs under the selected management concept.

Stating that the city is pursuing evaluations for the project to make the best decision possible, President of Gatineau’s Executive committee and Hull-Wright district councillor Cédric Tessier said Gatineau needs to think outside the box to come up with an innovative concept that makes everyone happy. “This reflection is necessary in order to respond to the crying need in the western sector for facilities that will meet the needs of users,” Tessier said in the press release, noting that the project’s initial call for tendering didn’t receive any bids from prospecting developers.

Disappointed by how slowly the file has progressed to this point, Aylmer district councillor Audrey Bureau told the Aylmer Bulletin that the project should be completely built and open this year. “We’re not even there yet,” Bureau said. 

Stating that three ice surfaces won’t be sufficient to serve the population’s future needs, Lucerne district councillor and vice-President of Gatineau’s Commission des loisirs, des sports, et du développement des communautés Gilles Chagnon told the Aylmer Bulletin that the complex needs to feature at least four rinks as well as other athletic installations such as a palestra. “We need to look at the long-term needs of the population,” Chagnon said, stating that the population in the west end is expected to go up considerably in the next decade. “We have an opportunity and it’s right now.” Noting that the population’s needs are growingly diversified and in higher demand, Bureau said it’s crucial that the complex features a variety of sports installations, with at least four skating rinks. 

Insisting results from the analysis be presented to council as early as August or September, Chagnon says the project has taken too long to make headway, in addition to being delayed due to Covid-19, and that progress is imperative. As the pandemic comes closer to a close and recreation sports start to open up again, Chagnon says the city needs to make the file move forward fast. “Hockey will come back and we will start to realize that we have a lack of ice,” Chagnon said.