The City Centre Community Centre will be open by summer 2015.
Located within the Quintet development on Minoru Boulevard, just north of Granville Avenue, and connected to the new Trinity Western University, the centre will span two storeys and cover 30,000 square feet, according to the City of Richmond.
The centre is distinguishable by its glass features and colourful window panels.
The centre will act as a cornerstone for activities in the city’s growing downtown core, dubbed City Centre. It’s expected another centre will be needed within a decade, further north.
The initial 2014 capital budget pegged its cost at $6.7 million, however the city now marks costs at about $7.2 million.
City spokesperson Ted Townsend said the city saved money by enveloping the centre into the private development.
The city will only pay the developer rent on one-third of the centre’s space, at a rate of about $250,000 annually, to start, according to a staff report.
According to the news release, the new centre will include a community living room; multipurpose program spaces; fitness area and change rooms; aerobic and dance studio; meeting rooms; games room and lounge; kitchen; arts studio and music rooms.
It will be open until midnight on weekends.
The city is “targeting” LEED Gold standards.
The City Centre Community Association will oversee programming.
At a ceremony Monday, association president Paige Robertson thanked city council for the centre.
The developers are Canada Sunrise Development Corporation and Ledcor Construction.
