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Port Alberni’s outdoor track to undergo repairs

City says original installer will pick up bill
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One section of the Bob Dailey Stadium track is in need of repairs. ELENA RARDON PHOTO

Bob Dailey Stadium’s track will be undergoing repairs at the expense of the installer, after the recently-resurfaced track has started to show signs of damage.

The track was resurfaced in the summer and fall of 2013 by Marathon Surfaces, a Surrey-based company. Scott Kenny, the parks and recreation director at the time, said that the condition of the track, first built in 1991, was deteriorating and had become a safety hazard.

READ: Alberni’s Bob Dailey track needs a facelift

The city applied for a $400,000 federal grant to help with the track repairs back in 2011, but was unsuccessful. During a May 2013 council meeting, city councillors voted to put $700,000 from the land sale reserve fund toward track repairs.

The track reopened in October 2013, with around $60,000-70,000 left over from the track repair budget. This went towards the outdoor exercise equipment that now stands outside of Glenwood Centre.

But the track’s surface has already started peeling again, and it’s been only four years since the track was resurfaced.

The track is used by the Alberni Track Club and School District 70, and it hosts other community events such as the recent Tlu-piich games and Walk with Your Doc. Hundreds of people also use the track simply for walking every day.

Communities like Oceanside, for example, do not have a rubber track or athletics facility at all, and have to send athletes to Port Alberni or Nanaimo when they host games.

On a Tuesday, Sept. 5 meeting of city council, director of development services Scott Smith confirmed that he and parks supervisor Rob Gaudreault had met with a representative from Marathon Surfaces.

“We walked the track and reviewed the state of the track,” said Smith. “Since that meeting I have received an email from them indicating that they will be here in September.”

The north end of the track with be repaired then, and any further repairs identified by the parks superintendent will also be completed at that time.

Smith emphasized that this will not be a simple patch job.

“They will grind that surface off, reseal the undercoat and then float another coat and repaint as necessary for that whole north end for the first full lane, which is where the most severe deterioration is occurring,” said Smith.

Because the track is still under warranty until the end of 2018, all repairs will be at the cost of Marathon Surfaces.

“One of the reasons why we were strongly pushing for this work to be done in the fall is because the warranty essentially has another year to go,” said Smith. “So we’ll be able to see how this work that they are doing goes through the winter and still have all next year to observe.”

City resident Neil Anderson, who brought the issue to city council, noted, “That’s the same area that really started to deteriorate prior to us resurfacing, and it’s very clear that there’s a water problem. Just repairing the membrane by itself may not resolve the ongoing problem. I would hope we look at that in depth before we laid another surface down.”

Smith confirmed, “We have identified that area, and we will be doing some work to ensure that the drainage is resolved.”

elena.rardon@albernivalleynews.com



Elena Rardon

About the Author: Elena Rardon

I have worked with the Alberni Valley News since 2016.
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