The Assiniboia & District Recreation Complex recently passed through another hoop en route to being built in the near future.

Earlier this week the government of Saskatchewan released its list of 120 Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program (ICIP) projects they've submitted to the federal government for shared funding and Assiniboia's complex made the list.

Curtis Nelson, the President of the Assiniboia Civic Improvement Association (CIA), said he's pleased their proposal has passed through the provincial ranks and onto Ottawa now.

"We're shovel ready right now with the project," he said. "If they were able to approve that here by the end of the month, we could begin construction, have the shell erected by spring."

If the project received approval from the federal government within the next month, the facility would be open for February 2022, but if the approval comes after that it would push the construction completion date back six months due to winter conditions.

The complex will include a rink, a walking track, a teen centre, and a pickleball court-sized gymnasium and be located in downtown Assiniboia on a piece of undeveloped land north of the Prince of Wales Cultural & Recreation Centre.

The cost is pegged at $15.7 million, about $6.3 million from the federal government, just over $5.2 million from the provincial government, and the remaining tab (just under $4.2 million) from the Assiniboia CIA.

"We've been raising money for seven or eight years now and we have that amount of money already raised," he said. "We actually have that sitting in the bank account and raised for the project."

According to Nelson, the Assiniboia CIA is a volunteer non-profit organization that raises capital for recreation, culture, and sport. They host a variety of fundraisers throughout the year with their biggest being the Spring Fever Lotto which brings in about $350,000 annually.

The rink would replace the southern Saskatchewan town's preexisting one that is at the end of its life Nelson believes.

"It was built in the 60s, it is well past it's best before date, it's an old arch rib structure," he said. "There's nearly nothing that can be reuse in that old facility. It's to the point where it needs to be bulldozed... it can't be repurposed for anything."

Nine different contractors bid on the RFP that was sent out recently and Nelson said they've picked their preferred contractor but can't award the job until the federal government approves them for the grant.