Steinbach city council voted unanimously in favor of awarding the Southeast Event Centre construction contract to Graham Construction and Engineering Inc. at the November 1, 2022 city council meeting for a guaranteed maximum price of $61 million. The tender for this project closed on September 13th with three bids received – Graham Construction and Engineering Inc. was the low bidder.
With the approval of this award, the estimated total project cost including land and equipment will become just under $66.2 million. Last year, it was announced that the City was approved for $17.5 million in Provincial and Federal government grant funding for the project under the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program. A total of $25.5 million is expected to come from private and community fundraising being coordinated by Southeast Events Group Inc. The remaining required funding of just over $23 million will come from City funds – through a combination of reserve funds, operating funds, and debt.
“Today, it’s not built, but we’re at another milestone where now we can award the project. This is just huge for our community. It’s historic for our community,” says Mayor Earl Funk. “It’s the largest project we’ve ever done and we [the City] are only in it for one-third [of the costs]. That’s just unheard of across our country, in communities our size, with building rec centres like this.”
Physical construction of the project is expected to begin in January 2023 with both the TG Smith and Centennial rinks remaining fully operational for the 2022-2023 Winter season. The anticipated completion date for the Southeast Event Centre is for the fall of 2024.
In order to be able to complete the project on time and within budget, the City is investigating the option to proceed with the development as a single stage, which would see the existing Centennial rink demolished during the summer of 2023. If this option is chosen, a modified ice usage schedule would be required for the 2023-2024 winter season when only the TG Smith arena would be available for use. As the project proceeds, updates about its development that may impact the community will be shared through the City of Steinbach website and social media accounts as details become available.
The City of Steinbach would like to thank the Government of Canada, the Province of Manitoba and Southeast Events Group Inc. for their contributions to this project.
