Construction underway on new concrete floor at Peterborough Memorial Centre

Piece by piece, crews spent the day on Wednesday tearing out the old concrete floor at the Peterborough Memorial Centre (PMC).

The $3.5-million project to replace the old floor under the ice pad is expected to take all summer.

Crews are now working seven days a week to get it done by October.

“Once we have the site cleared, we will have guys in to check out the subsoil conditions. We’ll start backfilling again and then start working on the new floor systems,” said Gord deVries, site supervisor for Peak Engineering.

READ MORE: Council votes to rebuild Peterborough Memorial Centre floor, Lakers feel the pinch

The arena was built in 1956. The floor from that year and one from the 1970s are being replaced.

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“It is a project that is needed for the future and the present,” said facility manager Jeremy Giles. “We couldn’t go into the upcoming OHL season as it was.”

READ MORE: City staff report recommends $3.5M in ice pad upgrades at Memorial Centre

During construction, the Petes Store and the box office will remain open.

The Peterborough and District Sports Hall of Fame will continue to run on Tuesday and Thursday mornings.

The Peterborough Petes’ operation staff continues to work out of its office next to the construction zone.

“Fans looking for tickets, it’s a challenge. We can’t sit them in a seat because it’s dangerous,” said Burton Lee, executive director of business operations for the Petes. “But we have videos and photos of every seat and vantage point so no issues so far.”

The start of the Petes’ home schedule for the 2019-20 season is delayed by about three weeks.

The team will start with several road games before the home opener on Oct. 17.

The tenants who are impacted most are the Peterborough Lakers Major Series Lacrosse team and the Peterborough Junior Lakers.

Both will play the remainder of their home games this summer out of the Evinrude Centre.

“We’ve all played there before in minor lacrosse and been around that rink, but it’s going to be a little bit different,” said Lakers captain Robert Hope.

The Lakers raised their 2018 Mann Cup national championship banner to the PMC rafters on Thursday in their only game at the arena this season.

The Lakers will play their first game at the Evinrude Centre on Thursday against the Brooklin Lacrosse Club.