AUDIO:
Councillor Sheldon Germain: [audio:http://pmd.country933.com/audio/tyler-news/mipex-groundbreaking-sheldongermain.mp3]
Chief Operating Officer Tim Reid: [audio:http://pmd.country933.com/audio/tyler-news/mipex-groundbreaking-timreid.mp3]
Mayor Melissa Blake: [audio:http://pmd.country933.com/audio/tyler-news/mipex-groundbreaking-melissablake.mp3]
Mayor Melissa Blake broke ground on Macdonald Island’s huge expansion project this weekend in a unique way.
Instead of digging with a golden shovel, the Mayor hopped in an excavator to get construction underway.
The mayor says this expansion is pretty similar to the original construction of the Community Leisure Centre – but not identical.
“The difference is the community’s readiness for it,” Blake said. “The project is completely different; it’s a complete design and build, and we’ve got the locked-in price, we’ve got a locked-in schedule that they’re committed to meeting.”
“You will not find any kind of resistance to it – I think the community is anxious to see what else we can do here.”
Chief Operating Officer Tim Reid says they’ll update the community every quarter on their progress.
“We know at times we’re going to be ahead, and at times we’re going to be behind, and that’s just construction,” said Reid. “But not telling people where you are isn’t right. And so our belief is, we’re going to commit to dates, and if we miss them, then we’re going to be accountable to the fact that we missed them. And if we’re successful, then we’re going to celebrate.”
The project will see a five thousand seat outdoor stadium and two thousand seat baseball stadium built over the next few years.
September 17, 2012
