Breslau to mark start of work on new community centre

Work is now underway at the site of the future Breslau community centre, but an official groundbreaking ceremony is set for July 16.

This week, the contractor began stripping soil and digging the footings for the 10,000-square-foot addition to the existing Empire Communities Ltd. sales office, which is to be turned over to the township when the 475-home subdivision is built out, said Brian Detzler, the township’s manager of facilities.

The $2.2-million project is expected to be completed by mid-December.

“There are always factors, such as weather, that can get in the way, but we’re on target for that date.”

Construction is also on track at the largest project on Detzler’s list, the Woolwich Memorial Centre in Elmira. Building has been at or ahead of schedule all along, and the facility will be ready for its September opening.

Adjacent to the site, demolition of the old Elmira Arena is well underway, and should be completed by the end of the month. Immediately afterward, work will begin on turning the space into a parking lot.

Work is also underway tackling a glitch that has surfaced up at the WMC project: a very noisy dehumidifying unit that prompted complaints from many of the neighbours. The noise has been traced to the fan blade and motors, and the township is working with the architect, mechanical consultant and sound engineer to solve the problem, said Detzler. A solution should be in place in a couple of weeks.

In the meantime, the unit has been shut down.

“Our objective is not to turn it back on until it has been retrofitted,” he explained.

A formal meeting with the neighbourhood will be arranged after the noise problem has been addressed and residents have had a chance to assess the changes.

There will be a more celebratory mood in Breslau at 3 p.m. next Thursday for the official sod-turning ceremony. The event takes place at the Empire Communities Ltd. sales office, 200 Woolwich St. S.

The new building, a gymnasium/community centre, will be built to complement the existing sales pavilion erected by Empire Communities. That structure is 3,600 sq. ft.; with the basement included, it provides about 7,000 sq. ft.

Under a deal made with the township in 2006, the company located the facility at Breslau Memorial Park with the intention of selling it to the municipality for $2 when the subdivision is built out.