Wynyard residents can expect to walk through the doors of their new area within a year and a half.

“I think there’s going to be a lot of buzz once they see the equipment mobilized to the site and the steel structure building should be arriving shortly after that. When people see something erected, I think that’s when the excitement will really take effect,” CAO Jason Chorneyko told Bolt FM.

Town council is expected to pass its 2018 budget Tuesday night which includes $7 million for the building, which covers three-quarters of the total cost, he said.

It’s been seven years since a community group started lobbying council about the project, he said.

Since then consultations have been done to ensure they were building a facility that would last 50 to 75 years and would suit residents’ needs, he said.

An assessment done just under five years ago on the current arena, built in 1950, gave it a lifespan of five more years, he said.

“One of these days it’s going to get condemned, so we have to have something in place.”

Construction is estimated to start on March 12 and is scheduled to take 14 months in a best-case scenario, he said.

The total cost of the building it $9.8 million, not including tax.

Mayor Albert Boylak previously told Bolt FM a new arena is for people who both participate and watch sporting events, and that it will attract professionals to the town.

The project has been awarded to Quorex Construction, who will hire local subcontractors, he said.