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Nova Scotia – but it turned out that the Battlefords area labour scarcity was a challenge with an upside. "When you bring people from further away, they're committed for the duration of the project," says Morello. ■ LOCATION 623 Carlton Trail North Battleford, Saskatchewan RENDERINGS COURTESY CITY OF NORTH BATTLEFORD OWNER/DEVELOPER City of North Battleford building had to be open all winter for the stair tower," says project manager Rene Dubeau of Jen-Col Construction Ltd. Maintaining schedules and proper sequencing of tasks was important despite what, super icially, is a relatively uncomplicated building. "Mechanical work, painting, and lighting installation had to be sequenced and installed in such a way that it would not interrupt the tile-placing. There was lots of tile work. The pool is tiled, [and] the pool-side areas and common areas all have tiled loors throughout," says Dubeau. Steel components that, once installed, sit well above the pool and are part of the roof support structures, arrived pre- inished with a coating to protect them from moisture and chlorine. But, prior to their installation, care had to be taken so that the coatings were not damaged or breached, says Dubeau. In the case of the curling rink, "The challenge was the close proximity of the other two buildings – the arts theatre and the aquatics centre. In a large complex of four buildings, the parts closely abut each other, leaving little room for materials and equipment and erecting steel, as you need cranes for that. This also meant you needed to coordinate with work on infrastructure like grades and sidewalks," says Darren Zubot, operations manager with Scott Builders Inc. One of the three general contractors on the CU Plex, Scott is also building the ieldhouse. The irm is a specialist in ice slabs as well as commercial and light industrial projects. The ieldhouse includes two soccer pitches with removable turf – "So the space can be used for basketball, badminton and other indoor 88/ APRIL 2012 p.86-89Credit Union CUplex.indd 88 sports," says Zubot. The ieldhouse has special 'sports' looring, an indoor running track at an upper level, and observation bleachers for the soccer and basketball areas. The theatre is a steel frame structure on concrete pile and grade beam and is about 30,000 square feet. "The design is for a very intimate setting with a lot of attention to sightlines," says Mike Morello, project manager with APM Construction Services Inc. With construction of a big power plant east of the Battlefords and a booming economy in the region, general contractors like APM had to look outside of both city and region in the quest for skilled labour. "We also needed to coordinate with two other general contractors," says Morello. Some trades had to be imported from ARCHITECT Barr Ryder Architects & Interior Designers GENERAL CONTRACTOR (AQUATICS) Jen-Col Construction Ltd. GENERAL CONTRACTOR (THEATRE) APM Construction Services Inc. GENERAL CONTRACTOR (FIELDHOUSE & CURLING CENTRE) Scott Builders Inc. STRUCTURAL/MECHANICAL/ ELECTRICAL CONSULTANT Stantec Consulting Ltd. THEATRE CONSULTANT Schick Shiner & Associates CIVIL CONSULTANT Hemisphere Engineering Inc. LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT Douglas Walters Landscape Architect Ltd. TOTAL AREA 198,000 square feet TOTAL PROJECT COST $57.7 million Credit Union CU Plex 3/26/12 3:06:11 PM