Yellowknife (Sep 26/03) - At almost $3 million over budget and construction ongoing, the beleaguered Multiplex will celebrate its grand opening Sunday.

The finely-cut silhouette of a man working out with weights: the DND fitness room is yet another part of the Multiplex. - Lisa Scott/NNSL photo Total complex area -- 8,632 metres Olympic Rink -- 100 by 200 feet / Proposed Rink -- 85 by 200 feet DND gym -- 460 square metres Gymnastics club -- 968 square metres Additional facilities -- multi-purpose room, concession stand Annual maintenance costs -- $332,000 Annual revenue -- $208,000 Staff -- three full-time Original Budget -- $11.267 million Costs to date -- $14.1 million Second pad cost -- $4.5 million Estimated completion -- 2006 Contributions -- DND donates $1 million for gym, Yellowknife Gymnastics Club spends $1 million for their facility

After a few date changes, invitations have been printed and sent out, activities planned and ice time cleared.

Mayor Gord Van Tighem will perform the ribbon cutting, with performances by the Yellowknife Gymnastics Club and the speed and figure skating clubs.

Chances are the sound of pounding hammers will resound during the ceremony for the still-unfinished sports complex.

Construction crews are working on the bleachers, with temporary wooden plywood in place of the permanent concrete ones to come.

The Multiplex was originally slated to open in the fall of 2002.

PCL Contractors North pushed the opening from Oct. 7 to Dec. 15 due to competition with the Alberta construction industry for labour, parts and equipment.

Doors opened to city residents in February, five months later than originally planned and $2.833 million over budget.

Area clubs and teams have patiently awaited the facility, after hasty ice time shuffling last year.

Melanie Pond uses the Olympic-sized arena to introduce her two-year-old to the ice during the moms and tots skate.

"It's going to be nice when it's finished," says Pond, adding that construction is still evident at the facility.

"It's new ice, it's bigger... once it gets finished it's going to be perfect," she says.

In the permanent gym owned by the Yellowknife Gymnastics Club, Dylan Lambert bounces on the gym floor with other kids enroled in Tumble Tikes.

His mother Carla Lambert remembers the last location of the club at the Curry Construction garage on Old Airport Road.

"This is so much nicer. It's so much brighter," she says.

With the Olympic-sized arena in operation, the city is waiting for funds to start phase two -- making the Multiplex a twin-pad arena.

The ground has been dug out and walls are in place for the 85 by 200-foot ice pad.

If funds do come through for the second arena, it won't be for a few years. The estimated budget of $3.4 million has already increased to $4.5 million.

According to Grant White, the city's director of community services, the second pad will be complete in 2006.

"It's going to be a great contribution to the city. There are no other facilities like it in the North," says White.

The complex will carry the name Multiplex indefinitely.

The city had hoped to attract corporate sponsorship at a prize tag of $500,000, as well as offering sponsorship opportunities for parts of the complex.

"We're still hoping that we can sell the name of the arena," says Kevin Stapleton, a volunteer heading a group of concerned facility users.

The city is working in conjunction with the group, looking at the possibility of fundraising for the second ice surface.

Stapleton gathered people together because he was concerned construction would stall on the second pad.

"If we don't get another ice surface soon, groups will have to turn people away," he says, adding that many adult groups have done so already.

"We need another facility. We're no further ahead now than we were 10 years ago," Stapleton says.

The second pad could be ready for users as early as September 2004, according to Stapleton, if fundraising comes through and the city hops on board.

"It's clear as mud to me, but the city doesn't seem to see that," he says.

For now, the facility is open to the public and provides a total of two ice surfaces for the city -- the same number as when the Gerry Murphy Arena was open.