An important community hub located in the centre of the City of Cold Lake, the Phase 3 development of the Cold Lake Energy Centre follows the City’s vision of offering its citizens the opportunity to live a healthy and active lifestyle. The Cold Lake Energy Centre Phase 3 Expansion comprised the addition of a second arena in a new building; new athletic features including an indoor climbing wall and athletic track; and amenities such as multi-purpose rooms, administrative support spaces, and a food concession on the second level with a seating area overlooking the arena.

The new arena is a single sheet, NHL size ice rink with spectator seating for approximately 270 people, change rooms and new washrooms. This addition required the expansion of the existing ice plant. Bird’s subsidiary, Nason Construction Group, self-performed the brine system piping. The Phase 3 development also included expansion to roads, parking and landscaped areas, as well as major upgrades to the infrastructure of the existing recreational facility.

The facility remained operational during construction. The Bird Team worked with the facility representatives to reschedule events which were scheduled to take place in construction areas, and shifted construction scopes to accommodate those events which could not be moved. 

Coordination of emergency protocols was also important. While under construction, some of the emergency systems had to go offline when tying in the new system. A warning system was developed to notify various areas of the building, should an evacuation need to occur. Bird mitigated the risk by performing the majority of the emergency systems work during off-hours, when the facility was vacant.