There are three potential options for council to consider when it comes to the new Community and Recreation Centre.
A staff report is coming to council next week, after bids for the project all came in well above the estimated cost.
The first two options would cancel the tender.
One would initiate a redesign of the building while the other would include redesigning the building and its functional programming.
Risks for both include inflation adding to the cost of the project.
Redesigning just the building could also move the project completion to 2027, while option two, which recommends public engagement, could see the project done in 2029.
The third option would award the tender, with construction finished in the fall of 2025.
Staff say that minimizes the risk of inflation and any unplanned failure at West Ferris Arena.
However, the report says financing that option would increase the ‘special debt’ component from $7 million to $27 million.
The staff report also says the lowest bid came in at just over $69 million, which significantly exceeded the estimated cost.
“The significant increase from the cost estimates were attributed to labour and material cost escalation in the marketplace,” states the report. “No single element of this project stood out as an obvious driver of costs.”
It goes on to say both labour and material costs are currently impacting all construction projects.
Staff also talked to the contractor about a side-by-side design for the building and were told there wouldn’t be any major savings with such a design.
