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Nustadia Recreation
710 Mountain Brow Blvd.
Hamilton, Ontario
L8T 5A9
Tel: (905) 630-0958

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History

On January 1, 2007 PBK Architects and Cochrane Engineering were sold to GENIVAR. There is no common ownership or corporate affiliation remaining between Cochrane Group and GENIVAR.

The following is a history of the development of Nustadia.

In 1967, PBK Architects and Engineers were commissioned to design the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver, BC. For the next twenty years, the firm was responsible for the Project Management, Architectural and Engineering design for over 50 major recreation facilities across Canada and in the United States. These projects ranged in scope from BC Place Stadium, Northlands Coliseum, Saskatchewan Place, and the majority of the Major Junior A facilities in western Canada to small municipal recreation facilities from Whitehorse to Lethbridge, and from the campus at UBC to Prince Albert Saskatchewan.

In the mid-eighties, PBK opened an office in Ontario, and expanded the arena development and design practice to eastern Canada. From that point until the mid-nineties, the eastern office designed and / or project managed two or three major multi-use recreation facilities a year in Ontario and Atlantic Canada. This work included spectator facilities such as Harbour Station in Saint John, the K C Irving Centre in Bathurst, and One-Mile Stadium in St. John's Nfld.

In the early nineties, there was significant change in the way that major spectator facilities were developed. Private financing became an important factor in the process, and the traditional multi-level governmentfinancing was not available for most projects. Design Build contracts, with guaranteed maximum costs replaced traditional design tender or construction management contracts as the preferred method of project delivery. PBK moved quickly into this sector, forming a new company, Nustadia Developments that was specifically created to provide all of the predevelopment services required for these projects.

Nustadia was immediately successful: commissioned as the Owners Consultants and Design Review team by the Vancouver Canucks (and NBA Grizzlies) for General Motors Place in BC and then commissioned in a similar role for the Toronto Raptors (and then the Maple Leafs) for the Air Canada Centre in Toronto. At the same time, Nustadia Developments was providing full development consulting services for Canlan Investments Inc., a BC company that was privately developing and operating multipad recreational ice surfaces built primarily for adult hockey players. Nustadia was responsible for the development of twenty-five ice pads in seven different facilities during the period between 1992 and 1998 for Canlan Investments. This work was located primarily in the GTA, and part of an overall strategy developed by the Nustadia team.

In 1995, the PBK Group merged with the Cochrane Group of companies (CGI). CGI was primarily a multi-disciplinary engineering firm based in the prairies. They had a background in development, in the commercial sector, and through Public Private Partnerships (PPP) provided infrastructure to small communities in Western Canada. PBK, with an aging ownership, and offices in BC and Ontario, was an excellent fit to create a truly national consulting firm.

Nustadia's mandate within the newly merged company expanded, and many new strategic alliances were formed. A long-term agreement was finalized between PBK / Nustadia and an expanding semi-professional hockey league based in Texas. For this agreement, PBK and Nustadia were responsible for facility development in order to accommodate the new franchises. Under this arrangement, new spectator multipurpose facilities were designed and developed in Hidalgo, Texas and Larimer, Colorado. Furthermore, a number of studies and prospects were undertaken.

Nustadia naturally evolved into a significant participant in the competitive field of PPP agreements for the development of arena facilities. Nustadia was selected as the primary development partner in five major arena developments; two Major Junior A spectator facilities and three fourpad recreation facilities. All of these facilities have been completed on schedule and within budget.

The final evolution of the Nustadia division of CGI was the product of three Municipal partnerships; Guelph, Moncton, and Hamilton. Nustadia was given the corporate responsibility for longterm facility operating contracts in these PPP agreements with terms from ten to twenty years.

The management of CGI recognizes that the development and operation of these recreation facilities should be consolidated into a singlepurpose company. This company, Nustadia Recreation Inc., will have a mandate to concentrate on establishing a "best practice" methodology for operations and development of these types of facilities, and will be charged with managing expansion and growth in a dynamic marketplace.

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