Imagining how the new Servus Arena will look when done is getting easier by the day.
Tiers of concrete show the seating bowl that will have 1,360 fixed seats. They will surround an ice surface whose network of cooling lines were being worked on Thursday.
What will become an impressive multi-storey lobby has already been roughed in behind the large glass entrance.
Project superintendent Curtis Martinek said the construction process is much different than when its predecessor was built.
“The bleachers all came as pre-cast concrete. They came in sections. They deliver them then they lift them into site.
“It’s almost like Lego the way they put it together. It’s quite interesting.”
Martinek said the $21.6-million project has been going well.
The shell of the building is pretty much complete and work on the arena floor is well underway.
“The piping is going down now that carries the cooling fluid,” he said. “They’ve got the ice plant in the building and most of the interior wall work is done inside.
“They’re coming along really good.”
Demolition of the venerable 64-year-old Red Deer Arena took place almost exactly one year ago to the day.
Construction on the new arena began soon after and it is expected to be finished in the fall of 2018. It will be one of the focal points for the 2019 Canada Winter Games, which Red Deer is hosting.
The new arena will be two storeys and connected to the Pidherney Curling Centre through a hallway that has already been roughed in. Red Deer Minor Hockey’s offices nearby have also been laid out.
It will offer hockey and skating in the winter, and roller-skating in the summer. There will be a room-temperature spectator area. The second floor will offer an open view to action below, and an indoor running track.
City of Red Deer regularly posts updates and plans a live construction feed on its website at www.reddeer.ca.