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The City of Prince Albert is seeking approval at tonight’s City Council Meeting for an additional $18 million loan to bridge the cash flow gap and support the project's progress without interruption. This short-term borrowing aligns with the commitment to deliver the Aquatic and Arenas Recreation Centre on schedule and within budget.
This recommendation for this decision follows a reassessment of the funding model, which was built projecting that full fundraising would be received during the first year of construction. Since fundraising commitments are being made over multiple years, additional up-front funding is required earlier to manage cash flow over the next 5-10 years as fundraising dollars come in.
“This is not an increase in the project budget. It will be a short-term loan to manage cash flow during the construction,” said Mayor Greg Dionne.
With the loan request on the agenda, Administration is also taking this opportunity to update the funding model.
"We made assumptions in calculating in the original funding model and failed to consider the way the fundraising cash flow would impact our operations. Through this report, we have shared a full accounting of the project to date, which we considered important to put forward to the public,” said Sherry Person, City Manager for the City of Prince Albert. “To be clear, the borrowing does not reflect an increase to the project budget. The loan is to accommodate cash flow in the short term.”
The Aquatics and Arenas Recreation Centre budget is $118 million. This budget, previously reported as $113 million, has been updated to reflect accurate calculations that account for architectural design costs, contingency and PST calculations. Additionally, the valued engineering savings that were identified as possible reductions were preliminary ideas and are now accurately reflected in the funding model.
The Aquatic and Arenas Project construction has surpassed the halfway mark, is on budget and is scheduled for substantial project completion by the end of 2024.
For media inquiries, please contact,
Mayor Dionne
(306) 953-4300
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