February 23, 1999
(Executive Council)

The following is being distributed at the request of the Civic Centre Construction Board:

Civic Centre Construction Board provides status report

Peter Kennedy, chair of the Civic Centre Construction Board, has provided a progress report on construction of the new St. John's Civic Centre.

"We are pleased with the tremendous progress that has been made to date," Mr. Kennedy stated. "It is our intention to be in a position to call for a construction tender this spring."

Some of the highlights of the board's report are as follows:

1. The site preparation contract, awarded to Complete Paving, is approximately 70 per cent complete and should be finished within four to six weeks.

2. The programming study, which will establish the floor plans and building amenities, should be completed the first week of March. This study involved consultation with key stakeholders in the development of the project including representatives of the city, the province, the hospitality industry and Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment Limited, as well as concert and special event promoters.

3. An optimum seating capacity for the arena has been determined to be 6,000 seats, plus corporate boxes. Based upon analysis of the project and consultation with project advisors and stakeholders it has been determined that a 6,000 seat arena will best meet the centre's requirements, and includes a sufficient capacity for growth in utilization of the facility in future years. The St. John's Memorial Stadium contains 2,500 seats.

4. Based upon planning carried out to date the new facility is expected to provide a significant increase in the amount of space available for concerts and trade shows and related activities. The new Civic Centre will accommodate 7,500 to 7,800 persons for a concert, more than double the capacity of the Memorial Stadium (3,418). The new centre is expected to contain over 300 exhibit spaces for trade shows, compared to 108 for the stadium.

"We have been very diligent in consulting with the major users of the proposed facility as well as our professional advisors, and we believe that as planning continues it will become clear the region's needs will be adequately met by the new facility. Our main objective is to put in place a high quality facility, within the available budget," Kennedy said.

The construction board will be providing further details on the project as planning evolves.

Media contact: David Wells, Communications, (709) 729-6830.

1999 02 23                             9:45 a.m.