By Cecilia Nasmith
While we think of the Cobourg Community Centre as a new building, Director of Community Services Brian Geerts pointed out at this week's council meeting that it is in fact a decade old.
Some of its components are aging faster than others, and this week's council meeting saw approval of some of their replacements.
The first Geerts termed a good-news story – the sponsorship agreement that will almost completely cover the cost of a new digital score clock in the Bowl.
Over this past season, he noted, the old one has started to fail and some of the video screens no longer work properly. A legal agreement with Stevenson Building Products as prime sponsor will begin monthly payments over a 10-year term that will total $190,000, in return for which they get fixed advertising in the corner of the clock.
“The total funding required is $233,000, so this doesn't quite cover it,” Geerts said.
“But there's additional opportunity for video advertising over the life of the clock.”
Sourcing the replacement to Harris Time Inc. (“a staple in the sports-clock industry,” Geerts noted) is consistent with the town's purchasing policy, he added. And quick action may allow the replacement to be installed by year's end.
The three boilers that heat the CCC must also be replaced, his next report said.
“One was already inoperative at the beginning of the year. Since that time, both of the others have failed. Come September, we would not be able to heat the building.”
It's a big project, he pointed out, but there is opportunity for economies of efficiency in installation for getting them all installed at once (as well as potential bulk purchasing savings).
It would require an increase to the budget for this project from $80,000 to $169,000. He suggested additional funds be sourced from the Victoria Beach Washroom Conversion project, which had fallen behind and will not be completed this year.
