Sportsplex canteen reno contract awarded

The Brandon Community Sportsplex canteen is another step closer to serving up hot food again after city council awarded a renovation contract for the amenity at a Tuesday meeting.

Council unanimously approved the $239,900 contract, awarding it to Jacobson Commercial Ltd. to design and build the canteen, six years after it originally shuttered.

“We’re really happy to see that it gets open,” Mayor Jeff Fawcett said. “It’s something we’ve wanted for a long time.”

In total, council authorized $347,900 to be taken from the Sportsplex arena and associated upgrades debenture fund. The additional money being taken out is in case “there are structural, electrical or mechanical deficiencies that are the building owner’s responsibility to resolve,” according to a council report.

Perry Roque, the city’s director of parks and recreation services, said covering those costs just in case it’s needed.

“Until we get in there and start that construction, we put in that contingency to cover that all, so we’re ensuring that we have the funds in the event that we need them,” Roque told council. “But, we will try and reduce our costs as much as possible.”

He said getting the canteen back up and running is something community members have wanted for a long time.

“I think the canteen is a big improvement that a lot of people will be really happy to see,” Roque said.

He said the same applies to upgrades that have been going on in the rest of the facility for the last couple of years. The rink has been closed since March 2023 due to safety concerns over potential ammonia leaks from the ice plant.

Roque said he is “shooting” for the arena to reopen in early to mid-October, but “there could be glitches along the way.”

“It’s going to be exciting to have it all back up and running again, because we’ve gone two years without the facility being fully operational. And if there’s one thing I’ve heard over and over again is everybody misses the recreational services that the Sportsplex offers.”

Roque wasn’t able to give a firm timeline on the opening of the canteen but said it will hopefully be open during the hockey and winter sports season.

“We hope that we’ll have it up and running for this winter at the latest.”

The canteen closed in April 2019 after requests for proposals came back only with options to run vending machines. The canteen was never profitable when city staff managed it, even after attempts to shrink the menu and reduce staff.

The city was looking at reopening the canteen as early as December of that year before the COVID-19 pandemic nixed those plans.

“We’ve gotten lots of feedback from the public and lots of people who are coming to Brandon to use the facility that are quite shocked that we don’t have food services and we don’t have hot food services available,” Roque said in an interview after the meeting Tuesday.

In 2022, Chez Angela Bakery and Café was given a contract to run the canteen, before the city realized a renovation needed to happen because it wasn’t up to Manitoba Health guidelines.

Three Brandon businesses submitted bids to run the canteen once it reopens — Sabor Latino, Los Brothers Restaurant and Tastee’s Ice Cream and Grill.

“The RFP for the renovation and for the management of the canteen both went out at the same time,” Roque said. “Once we know that we’re moving ahead with the renovation then we can advise the successful candidate that we’re awarding that contract.”

The management RFP was for a five-year term with the option to renew it for another five years afterward.

The tenant is required to keep the facility open at a minimum during peak times of weekday evenings between September and June, until 6 p.m. during weekends, and weekdays during the summer, according to the RFP.

It is also required to be open during hockey tournaments, high school or college hockey games, swim meets, racquetball tournaments, track and field events and special events.

Fawcett said it will be a good place for the community to stop at once the canteen is up and running.

“You’ve got all kinds of activities going on all the time. We do want to have sort of the private (tenant) in there so they can adapt their schedules — for tournament play, for swim meets, for when we have events out on the track, all of those kind of things,” he said.

“But also for the general public in the area, if you’re at the riverbank, if you’re walking the paths, it’s a place that you can kind of come in and get some food or drink as well. We are excited about that. It’s long overdue.”

» alambert@brandonsun.com