The recent opening of the Kimberley Conference and Athlete Training Centre was not only a celebration of a new conference centre for the city, but also a demonstration of how a destination attraction such as this could be built locally, while keeping the budget down.

“New Dawn worked with the city and the architect for approximately six months going through as many cost reduction options as possible,” said Chad Jensen, president of New Dawn Developments. “This facility will help fill all the hotels, condos, restaurants, you name it. New Dawn felt that this facility was important to the tourism base of the area, so we went after it aggressively.”

The $7 million, 24,000 square foot centre features a main ballroom that provides over 17,000 square feet of meeting space, a large, airy pre-function space and breakout rooms for smaller meetings. It exceeds the Model National Energy Code by more than 30 per cent and is also home to Kimberley’s Paralympic training centre, meaning the entire building had to be fully accessible. This means that ramps, accessible elevators and restrooms had to be part of the plan right from its inception.

“The architects did a good job,” said Jensen. “You can’t see a staircase on first look. The architect explained that when guests arrived he wanted them to see what it is like to have a disability, so the first thing they see is the ramps. The staircase is tucked in behind. At the end of the day, it was all based on the building codes and best practices for accessibility.”

But the building’s unique accessibility isn’t the only thing that sets it apart. It was also built using efficiencies to keep the cost down—the main one being the foundation with added in-kind help from Resort of the Canadian Rockies (RCR).

“The biggest savings were on the foundation by working through alternate options with the geotechnical and structural engineers,” said Jensen. “RCR was a valuable partner from start to finish. RCR provided us a location to store the dirt in the upper parking lot until we needed it for fill, they were also very patient and understanding while the majority of the heavy construction took place during the ski season.”

Other savings came from using local tradespeople.

“The majority of the successful sub-trades were local between Cranbrook and Kimberley. This made up about 90 to 93 per cent of the workforce. New Dawn had worked with pretty much all of them before,” said Jensen.

He explained that from the beginning, this was more than just a building project. It was a chance to leave a legacy in a local community. In relaying this vision to the sub-trades New Dawn used for the project, Jensen noted that everyone became invested in the project—coming up with efficient ways to do the work at every turn.

This commitment was noticed by Jim Ogilvie, Kimberley’s mayor, who singled out the workers and construction company during the centre’s opening celebration.

“They’ve contributed to a more sustainable and accessible facility that profiles Kimberley’s appreciation of the environment and the people who live, work and visit here. They have contributed to our future,” said Ogilvie.

MLA Bill Bennett was a key figure in garnering funding for the project. He noted that he, along with MP Jim Abbott managed to attain much of the centre’s funding, because they believed in the benefits that would come when the centre was complete.

“Kimberley is my adopted home,” said Bennett. “Of course I wanted this to succeed. But it wouldn’t have happened without Jim or Chad Jensen. We ended up with a project worth a lot more than we paid for. Chad didn’t see this as a business project, but a community project. And now we have the only facility of this kind between Calgary and Kelowna. It will become an anchor for Kimberley.”

--source: www.kootenayadvertiser.com

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