FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Prince George, B.C. – Prince George City Council will receive a report at the September 23 meeting outlining the updated Civic Facilities Master Plan, which is intended to guide how the City plans, invests in, and manages its civic facilities.
The City has maintained an active program of facility assessment and capital planning, including the 2019 Civic Facilities Renewal Strategy, which established a foundation for assessing condition and investment needs. Updating the 2019 strategy was identified as a council priority through the 2023-2026 strategic plan to provide transparency about City facilities and help with proactive planning for the future. The City worked with infrastructure consulting and engineering firm AECOM to complete this work and support coordinated decision making. The goal of the plan is to balance a range of interconnected priorities, including aging infrastructure, changing service and space needs, accessibility, long term resilience, broader land use and community planning, and rising construction costs.
The City owns 56 facilities ranging from cultural and recreational facilities to public safety and administrative services buildings. Together, these facilities represent approximately 1.7 million square feet and $787 million in replacement value. Replacement values represent a high-level estimated cost to replace the City’s existing facilities with new assets that provide a similar level of service. They do not represent the full cost of facility redevelopment and exclude items such as land acquisition, excavation, major site preparation, consultants and design, permits, insurance, and other project-specific enabling works.
Each facility has been assigned at least one leading direction over the 20-year horizon: maintain, renew, redevelop, replace, and divest/decommission/alternative. The report estimates that necessary investment in maintenance and capital across all facilities is $892 million over the next 20 years or approximately $45 million per year on average. Proposed significant initiatives that will shape future investment decisions include the renewal and redevelopment of the Civic Centre, renewal of the downtown public library, the planning and replacement of Kopar Memorial Arena, and more.
These costs are not due to a lack of maintenance; civic facilities regularly receive ongoing maintenance as part of day-to-day operations. In many cases, it comes down to the age of the buildings and updated regulations for safety, accessibility, and environmental requirements. For example, Prince George's physical growth in the 1970s led to overinvestments in infrastructure, including civic facilities. The period of growth and population expansion was so significant that much of the City's current infrastructure dates from before 1980.
The estimates provided are preliminary planning-level costs to help prioritize projects and are subject to change as facility size, scope, design, and site requirements are confirmed. The identified investment requirements are not approved funding commitments and will be subject to future council consideration through annual budget and capital planning processes.
The master plan has been created in conjunction with the Civic Core District Plan (CCDP) business case to ensure alignment. While the CCDP establishes the broader vision and development framework for downtown, the Civic Facilities Master Plan provides facility-specific analysis. The CCDP business case will also be presented at the September 23 meeting for council consideration.
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Media contact:
Kendall Robertson, senior communications advisor
Mobile: 778-349-5393
Email: media@princegeorge.ca