With the reminder that “the Tsunami is coming," on April 25, the Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) board approved an agreement for new audience seating to support the incoming junior hockey team.
A portion of the existing bench seating at the SCRD’s Gibsons and Area Recreation Centre (GACC) is to be replaced by bucket and drink rail-style seating. The Sunshine Coast Junior Hockey Society is to cover the estimated cost of $90,000. Before the installation can be started, the SCRD requires assurance from the society that it has the money to complete the work and that the completed enhancements will become SCRD property.
To help facilitate the non-profit groups’ efforts to raise that money, the board okayed the potential to issue charitable contribution tax receipts upon acceptance of the completed project. With the Coastal Tsunami slated to begin hosting Pacific Junior Hockey League home games in GACC this fall, staff admitted timing to complete that and other projects at the facility was “tight." A report to the regional district’s committee of the whole agenda detailed a proposal for the seating change out to happen during the GACC’s annual maintenance period, from mid-May to mid-July, when the ice is out.
The report noted that this is the first of several GACC enhancements proposed by the society. In 2023, the group secured the donation of an electronic time clock/score board that had formerly been in place in Vancouver’s Pacific Coliseum. Plans to modify and install that equipment at the GACC have not been finalized.
As for work with the community group to date, SCRD community services manager Shelley Gagnon stated “so far, so good." She indicated they have been “great to work with” and that staff have been advised on the particulars of the seating that is planned for and are satisfied that the products are of acceptable quality.
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