Fredericton council has taken the first step towards launching the hunt for the team that will design the city’s new performing arts centre.

At Monday night’s council-in-committee meeting, councillors approved the procurement strategy that will be used to select the successful design team. 

“The design component of a new performing arts centre for the community is a really critical critical piece. We want to make sure that we get it right,” said Tim Yerxa, executive director of the Playhouse.

“It’s a generational project, and so choosing the right team is of paramount importance.”

A board made up of city staff and Playhouse board members will review design applications and draw up a short list of three or less.

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Those design teams can submit a maximum of three designs, and will be paid $35,000 for each design. The design team awarded the contract will have 50 weeks to come up with a final design.

Yerxa said there aren’t any preconceived thoughts on what it will look like, just what it will need.

“It just looks like a table on a piece of paper. It will be up for a professional design team, architects engineers and so on, to be able to take that and actually turn it into the design of a building,” said Yerxa.

The city isn’t starting the procurement process yet. It’s still waiting for confirmation of funding from the federal and provincial government.

The process is expected to cost about $4.2 million. Mayor Mike O’Brien said the city could dip into its own funding allocation to pay for the design plan if it needs to.

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