A major recreation centre being built in the far west end is facing higher construction costs, prompting City of Edmonton councillors to approve a budget increase.
But how much more money is needed to complete the Lewis Farms Recreation Centre, which is about 65 per cent built, is not known.
“Because if you say you need to spend X-million dollars on something, you can better believe that every bid that comes forward — because I would have said this on a camera — will come forward at exactly that price,” Mayor Andrew Knack said on Wednesday.
Knack said a borrowing bylaw will come forward in the next month or two with that information after a new contract is finalized, and sharing estimates beforehand would hurt the city’s negotiating power.
“We will never be able to find savings, we will never able to be efficient with taxpayer money, but it’s also why it’s so critical for us that we disclose that information as soon as we’ve sign it. So there will be nothing hidden.”
The need for more funds comes despite many elements being scaled back or cancelled and the overall rec centre size reduced by 30 per cent several years ago. (Scroll down for detailed list)
The Lewis Farms rec centre had a target cost of $311.3 million when it was approved by Edmonton city council in 2021, after the project was put on hold for 18 months during budget deliberations.
However, that year-and-a-half delay occurred in the early years of the COVID-19 pandemic when inflation drove up the cost of almost everything, including construction materials.
The city estimated the new cost of the rec centre, as it was planned, to then be $427 million.
“It really shows you’ve got to move fast on these things,” said Reed Clarke, the councillor for ward Nakota Isga where the rec centre is located.
“The longer you wait, prices only go up for construction and then inflation as well.”
Changing the scope and size began in 2022 and those efforts carried on into 2025, as the city worked with industry partners to value-engineer and simplify design elements of the project down to an adjusted budget of $309.3 million.
“They were constantly trying to find ways to shave every little bit off that they could,” Knack said.
The city decided to prioritize programming and daily public access for area residents over having a facility that could host specialized, high-performance sports competitions. As well, space inside was set aside for a future daycare and commercial retail units.
A motion presented at city council in December 2022 to drastically scale back the price tag of $311 million to $185 million was defeated, with the council of the day arguing the rec centre should either be done right or not at all.
Get weekly money news
Get expert insights, Q&A on markets, housing, inflation, and personal finance information delivered to you every Saturday.
“I knew that those those pieces of infrastructure were still going to be beneficial to everyone, right?” said Knack, who was the area’s city councillor at the time and fought for the project.
“It was still going to give people an opportunity to experience all that they need in what is a part of the growing city.”
Construction began in August of 2023, while the city continued to make staged changes to bring down costs.
But a new report presented to council this week from city administration says inflation, the construction schedule, supply chain disruptions and market pressures have pushed costs well beyond original estimates. U.S. tariffs and associated international trade risks have also affected prices, the city noted.
Planners had been working with an expected 24 per cent inflation allowance; the report now shows inflationary pressures of 47 per cent.
“Administration, I think, did a lot of locking into place whatever they absolutely could — but there were certain things that you couldn’t lock in and that’s why we’re at this place today,” Knack said.
Administration said significant work was done to mitigate inflationary costs during planning and design, but warned there are limited further options to reduce the price without affecting the project’s overall design or scope.
The rec centre is now at the point where the city said there are diminishing returns from further value engineering efforts.
“In this state, based on cost and risk projections, the facility, as designed, will exceed the approved budget,” the city report said, while recommending an increase to the capital budget to preserve the current scope and opening timeline.
Council accepted the recommendation on Wednesday. Clarke said it’s a cost the city is going to have to eat.
“We can’t not have the hockey rinks, for instance. We can’t not have the gyms,” said Clarke. “We’re at a spot right now where it’d be too much harm to not go through with this.”
What’s planned and what’s changed
The recreation centre on 92 Avenue, west of Winterburn Road, is designed as a hub for west Edmonton’s newer neighbourhoods.
The Lewis Farms rec centre will have an aquatic area, fitness facilities, two NHL-sized hockey rinks and an urban park, with a medium-sized Edmonton Public Library branch attached to the building.
These are the major changes from the initial 2021 plan:
- 164,000 square feet — the overall facility size has been reduced by this amount (30 per cent), from 512,000 square feet to 348,000 through multiple scope cuts
- 20 per cent — how much the aquatic facility was scaled back by. Changes included removing the standalone 30m x25m deep-dive tank and high diving boards, as well as a dryland sport training space
- Fitness centre and gymnasium— scaled back by 45,000 square feet. Bouldering wall removed from plans.
- Gymnasiums — Three full gyms scaled back to two full and one half gym.
- Ice arena — scaled back by 6,000 square feet.
- Outdoor leisure ice surface — removed from the plan but space reserved for it to be added in the future.
- Daycare space — added, not part of the original plan.
Knack said the financial realities trumped the city’s wish list.
“While I’m disappointed, I do want to remind everyone, it’s going to be a phenomenal recreation space,” he said on Wednesday.
“There’s still so many incredible things that are gonna benefit the community, and that I’m excited about — even though I wish we could have built it to what we had originally set out more than a decade ago.”
Plans for several outdoor features as part of the Lewis Farms district park were shelved, including:
- Three baseball diamonds
- Basketball courts
- Tennis courts
- Interactive water play space
- Skateboard park
- Outdoor fitness space
When construction began three years ago, the city said it was building a base-level district park that contained “supporting infrastructure” such as utilities and grading that would allow for the development of the above-mentioned amenities in the future.
Documents indicate several of the deferred outdoor elements were removed pending a feasibility study of an Edmonton Catholic Schools high school being built next door.
City council has been exploring a range of options, including further changes to amenities and features, as well as ways to generate more revenue once the rec centre opens.
Clarke said there are opportunities for the city to partner with businesses that have aligning interests and priorities.
“Any way that we can generate more revenue that doesn’t have to come from taxpayers and is from good corporate sponsors who believe in the same things we do… I think that makes a ton of sense,” Clarke said.
City staff said they previously explored partnerships with other municipalities in the Edmonton region, but none of them expressed interest.
Administration said it can examine membership fees and other user charges as one way to offset operating costs, and councillors are also talking about how to better plan for future inflationary pressures.
If the construction schedule is not altered, the facility in the Rosenthal neighbourhood is expected to open in fall 2028.
