According to the RM, the gravel parking lot will save 600,000$ in construction costs. Yet when questioned the RM indicated that the overall project cost would not be reduced so it would appear this is more of a cost cutting move rather than the smoke screen of LEED certification.

And with less than 400 parking spots, that means when the facility is at capacity every vehicle will have to bring 5 people . No one is expected to walk to the facility due to its out of the way location. Can anyone be expected to walk across the lake or the rickety bridge during the November to March period we call winter?

This raises the question, how many other corners are being cut to get the facility built? The RM assured us they will still have cup holders on the seats but Portage la Prairie is now left with a facility with no paved parking lot, no competitive pool, only one arena, no racetrack, no grandstand, and no respect from the rest of the province over the bungling of this entire project.

35 Million Dollars for a gravel parking lot. It would be funny if it wasn’t the residents and future generations of the City and RM that will be left with this legacy of mismanagement.

Posted By Rob Swystun, The Daily Graphic

Paving the entire Portage Credit Union Centre parking lot could prevent it from earning precious points toward its environmentally-friendly certification, Portage la Prairie city council heard at its regular meeting Monday.

The city has applied to the Portage la Prairie Planning District to reduce the number of parking stalls at the multiplex, currently under construction in Island Park, from the required 410 stalls down to 387 and to reduce the number of paved stalls to 86.

The city’s current bylaw for parking lots, which didn’t take into consideration Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification when it was drawn up, states they must be paved.

“In the past, the City of Portage la Prairie has enforced the requirement to have parking lots paved,” Coun. Jeff Bereza read from the Planning District application.

However, he also told council, paving the entire parking lot would cause the building to potentially miss out on four points toward the total 33 points it needs for a LEED silver-level certification.

LEED certification, handed out by the Canada Green Building Council, is based on how many points a building has, with points being given for environmentally-friendly aspects such as gravel parking lots as opposed to paved parking lots.

Adding to the conundrum, Bereza pointed out, is the fact the project’s federal funding of $3.3 million and the province’s $5 million contribution require the building to reach silver LEED certification and that funding could be in jeopardy otherwise.

While the parking requirements for the multiplex call for 410 stalls, based on the city’s formula for figuring out how many spaces are needed per seat in the complex, the site plans have room for only 387, making the application for the variance necessary.

However, having an unpaved parking lot could make for a messy situation when the ground is wet, Coun. Walter Keryluk said.

“What we’re going to be doing is spending extra money cleaning up the floors,” he predicted.