It’s been open to the public for less than six months and the Meadow Lake Co-op Centre is already making history. During the regular meeting of Meadow Lake city council held Monday (Nov. 17) it was announced the city’s new recreation facility was the winner of the Project Management Institute of North Saskatchewan’s Project of the Year Award.

“During the Sept. 22 regular meeting, council gave approval for Colliers Project Leaders to submit the Co-op Centre as a nominee for the Project of the Year Award,” explained city clerk Kaila Lefort. “The Project of the Year Award is annually awarded by the Project Management Institute of North Saskatchewan. On Oct. 24, Colliers Project Leaders contacted the city with the exciting news the project was successful in securing the award. This is an exciting accomplishment for everyone involved. Congratulations to the project team; and thank you to all those who had a hand in guiding this project towards reality.” According to Sandra Masters of Colliers Project Leaders, the Project of the Year Award goes to the project manager(s) whose project demonstrates excellence in the areas of project management and displays leadership and innovation.

“The winning project will have delivered expected value to the customer and will have demonstrated organizational and/or community benefits,” Masters noted. “Colliers Project Leaders will be sharing the team’s win on our social media channels, but we wanted you (city) to hear from us first. I am sure you are aware, but our team members are incredibly proud of having managed the project and even more so of the final product that will serve and enhance your community for years to come. The Project Management Institute recognizing their work on the facility is icing on the cake for professional project managers, and we wanted to extend our gratitude to you again for the opportunity to be part of the facility’s creation.”

Located at 506 3rd St. East, the Co-op Centre, which officially opened its doors June 24, represents a capital investment of approximately $52 million. Capital funding included $14,932,023 from the Government of Canada and $12,442,108 from the Province of Saskatchewan through the Co-op Centre wins Project of Year Award Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program (ICIP) and a total project cost of $37.3 million, alongside contributions from the City of Meadow Lake and RM of Meadow Lake. The community itself raised close to $7 million for the facility’s operations while support also came from Meadow Lake Co-operative Association Limited ($3 million), Innovation Federal Credit Union ($1 million), Kirt and Terri Prete ($500,000), and Larry and Brenda Moeller ($1 million) among others. During Monday’s meeting, mayor Merlin Seymour also expressed his pleasure upon hearing the news about the award.

“A hats off to the whole organizing committee and everyone involved from person number one to the very last, including Quorex Construction, Colliers, all the staff, the Co-op and to all the contributors,” he said. “It’s a pretty big feather in the cap of Meadow Lake and it’s a project well done by Colliers.”