The City of North Vancouver’s new Harry Jerome Community Recreation Centre is coming in a bit behind schedule but on budget.
City staff updated council on the “once-in-a-generation” infrastructure project Feb. 10, saying the new Harry Jerome should be welcoming guests in the second quarter of 2026. The new Silver Harbour Seniors Activity Centre should be completed around the same time.
When construction began, the city was targeting the end of 2025.
But with 96 per cent of the tendering completed and 65 to 70 per cent of the construction work done, there was an air of optimism in council chambers for the update.
“This is very exciting,” Mayor Linda Buchanan said. “Certainly the feedback I’m hearing from the community is that they are too very excited now that they’re seeing it out of the ground and seeing the windows go in, and it really is starting to feel like it’s all coming together.”
When the budget was last revised for the project in 2023, it had shot up $25 million for a total of $230 million. Staff say the Harry Jerome should cross the finish line without requiring any further influxes of cash outside of the project’s built-in contingency fund.
“The last few years have been a time of great escalation in the industry, but through rigorous project management controls, we are very pleased to report that the project is on budget,” deputy CAO Barbara Pearce told council, prompting a laugh of astonishment and praise from Buchanan and other council members.
“I know that you all, as a team, have worked extremely hard using every tool that you have in mitigating some of those risks, and looking at the budget and being very thoughtful and intentional in terms of where you need to make shifts,” Buchanan said.
Throughout the early planning process for the rebuild of Harry Jerome, council had sought to finance the construction with long-term leases of the adjacent city-owned lands to a developer.
Late in 2021, a deal with Darwin Properties fell through, requiring the city to seek access to short-term loans to keep the project going. So far, the cash paid to contractors has come out of reserves and through taxes but, it’s likely the city will have to dip into the loan soon, staff say.
The existing Harry Jerome lands remain zoned for upwards of 800 new homes plus commercial space in two highrises and a series of smaller buildings. The city will look to lease or sell the land again in 2026 or 2027 – a discussion that will happen behind closed doors to protect the city’s interests in property negotiations, according to staff.
When it opens, the new Harry Jerome Community Recreation Centre will feature an NHL-sized ice rink with seating for up to 500 spectators, a gymnasium, multi-purpose rooms and arts space, a youth area and preschool, a community kitchen and cafe, a 25-metre pool, hot tub and leisure pool, and fitness centre with sauna and steam room.
Outside, there will be a new skate park, playground, green space, sports courts and central plaza, all on top of 270 parking spaces.
Although planning design for the project wrapped years ago, the city is facing calls from the skateboarding community to provide a shelter over the outdoor skate park, allowing it to be used in all weather conditions. Responding to a question from Coun. Don Bell, staff said it’s conceivable that a roof could be added in, but staff haven’t done any feasibility studies or costing estimates and there would be a risk that a new structure could redirect noise away from the skate park and into the residential neighbourhood to the west.
[email protected]
twitter.com/brentrichter
brentrichter.bsky.social
Want to stay updated on North Vancouver and West Vancouver news? Sign up for our free daily newsletter.
