Powell River Recreation Complex roof requires engineering review, says manager of recreation

City of Powell River council will consider funding a study for a structural review of the pool roof decking at Powell River Recreation Complex.

At the May 27 finance committee meeting, manager of recreation Neil Pukesh outlined a report, requesting an expenditure of up to $30,000 from the city’s building and infrastructure reserve fund to pay for the study.

Pukesh said as part of the recreation complex architectural review completed in 2020 and adopted by city council earlier this year, the pool roofing was identified as a top priority for replacement.

“As a result, the city submitted an application to the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program in late 2020 and included this as one of the main project priorities,” said Pukesh. “The roofing replacement portion included the installation of new exterior insulation, as well as the removal of the open cell insulation which has been falling into the pool on an almost daily basis. This has become a major concern to the public, as well as the staff.

“While the building envelope review identified visual interior corrosion, a formal structural review of the deck system did not occur. After the envelope review, and in speaking with the building envelope engineers, they highly recommend that a thorough structural engineering review take place in advance of any replacement, to identify whether or not the roof system has exceeded its estimated useful life.”

Pukesh said the last thing the city would want to have happen is to proceed with a roofing insulation replacement, only to find the roof decking system’s structural integrity compromised, which would result in significant funding and construction delays. He said this happened to the leisure centre in Maple Ridge a few years ago.

“Given that we are expected to receive notification of our grant application status, sometime hopefully this summer, staff is recommending a study of the roof deck system be completed this summer,” said Pukesh. “We have reached out to VDA Architecture, who were the original architects of the complex back in 1975, as they are specialists in aquatic centre design and engineering. They have provided a quote of $25,000 and are able to be onsite this summer for a two-week period to conduct a full review.

“This review will provide a full-engineered report on the roof deck system and will include recommendations and any estimated replacement costs. As part of our due diligence and planning process, it’s important we complete this review before any construction occurs, which could happen as early as mid-2022 if we are successful in our grant application status.”

Councillor Jim Palm said he wanted to emphasize the fact that in terms of the pool roof, this is something that is long-overdue. He said chunks are falling off and there was thought about a band-aid solution of replacing the insulation at one point. 

“It’s much more prudent to have this full review,” said Palm.

Council will consider the funding request at its June 3 meeting.