The City of St. Catharines says a new downtown spectator facility is a step closer to reality.

Officials have held interviews with pre-qualified bidders, Ball/Rankin Construction, Giffels Westpro / Norr Project Team and PCL Contractors Canada Inc, and now the City’s evaluation team is preparing a list of questions regarding the various technical aspects of the proposals.

The evaluation team still plans to publicly announce the winning bidder on October 19th  when its report to council is released.

And City Council is expected to formally accept the recommended proponent at its October 29th meeting.

The new downtown multi-purpose spectator facility will be built at 55 McGuire St., currently known as the lower level parking lot.  The total project budget is $50 million.

Construction is scheduled to begin later this year, with hope of completion by the fall 2014.