With the final piece of the funding now in place for a second elevator of the Spray Lake Sawmills Family Sports Centre (SLSFSC), planning can now be completed and timelines established for construction.

Rocky View County (RVC) council approved funding of up to $54,525 at its July 25 meeting, after considering a request made by Cochrane Mayor Ivan Brooker. Previous to that, the Town of Cochrane had pulled $150,000 from reserves, the SLSFSC board raised $60,500 and the Seniors on the Bow (SOTB) committed $25,000.

The elevator is going to be located in the Totem 2 arena lobby, explains Robin Mitchell, SLSFSC general manager and executive director, and the aim is to have it operational by August 2018.

"With the start of hockey season  just around the corner, we didn't want to start constructing an elevator that would likely disrupt practices and games on the ice with noise and debris," he explains. "We can now take the necessary time to put together the design drawings, order the elevator cab (14 week delivery time), apply for a building permit and start to build the elevator shaft in May/June of 2018 once we take the ice out with the aim of having it completed by August 2018."

Cost estimate for the project is $290,025 project.

The elevator is of particular benefit to members of the Seniors on the Bow who have not only been lobbying for the addition, but are committed financially to the project.. The current elevator at the centre still requires a long walk and one steep decline, making it difficult for some seniors to reach their second floor location.

Mayor Brooker was pleased to hear the funding request had been approved after he submitted a letter.

"I just expressed to them that it would be appreciated if they came through with their share of the money, and now it's good. We were down to just a small percentage and it made sense that the county would come up with their share. I'm really happy about that."

Under the funding formula for capital projects calls for the town to contribute 50 per cent town, RVC 25 per cent and the centre's society 25 per cent. The amount to be contributed by RVC is about 19 per cent of the total cost.

As part of its rationale to support the project, RVC administration said it worked well within the funding formula for capital expenditures on the SLSFSC and the funds were available in their reserves.

Councillor Jerry Arshinoff suggested the decision be tabled to explore funding opportunities through the New Horizons for Seniors but council instead opted to provide the funding and leave the door open to explore grant opportunities.