โChange orders will be the order of the day because itโs never been built before and thatโs theproblem.โ โ North Bay Councillor Mark King
By Michael Lewis
Special to Ontario Construction News
A North Bay councillor is criticizing the design of a community and recreation centre approved to be built on a massive sports field in the city that would see one section built over bedrock and the other on soil that he says would be prone to sinking without steel and concrete foundation supports.
โWhy is the north pod designed to sit on a mixed clay soil that requires steep pilings at an estimated cost of $1 million plus HST โ that doesnโt include caps and grade beams to support the pods,โ councillor Mark King said at a Feb. 14 city council meeting where the project was narrowly approved for tender.
Seven pre-qualified bidders are expected to submit prices likely by the end of April, with a construction start possible this year.
โWhy would we go down this road โฆ when you’re dealing with soil thatโs subject to sinking. โThere is a tremendous opportunity here,โ King added, โto build something that actually makes sense.โ
He said contractors who have looked at the plans โquite frankly are tremendously upset that we would even consider that type of design.โ He said it calls for 45-foot pylons to be dug into the ground to support only one of the twin pods to be hinged together in a trident shape, one on bedrock and one on soil, and to each house an NHL-size ice rink. โAnyone that is involved in construction would never do that.โ
In an interview with Ontario Construction News, King suggested that the proposed support system would eliminate any potential threat of sinking, a view echoed by foundation specialist firms including Vaughan-based GeoSolv, but would add โextraneous costs.โ That project has an estimated $51.6 million price tag – far more expensive thanย another double ice rink complex in another northern Ontario municipality, Sault Ste. Marie, which has been completed on bedrock using a more conventional side by side pod design.
Despite some geophysical challenges, the Omischl Sports Complex on Lakeshore Drive is identified as the preferred site for the multipurpose twin-pod arena project, says a report to the city by an arena committee that was chaired by Councillor King.
Foundations in the area would be supported on engineered fill over bedrock, according to the report. Blasting will likely be required and any excavations must consider the shallow groundwater, adding though that the locationโs synergies with the existing sports fields and economic development opportunities outweigh the difficulties.
King said the site makes sense, but he would like to see the pods moved 200 to 300 feet so they would both sit on bedrock, eliminating the need for reinforcing pylons.
The city’s interim chief administrative officer John Severino and Nathan Jensen of Mitchell Jensen Architects, the North Bay architect on the design team, said the build is planned for the site on mixed surfaces so the pods are adjacent to existing sports fields and so as not to encroach on species at risk habitat, although King said the entire site is in a natural habitat area. Jensen also responded to the suggestion that the north pod is to be built on soil prone to sinking: โIt’s safe to say that we are not in the business of providing buildings that sink.โ
Marc Downing, a principal with the projectโs Toronto-based architecture and design firmย ย MacLennan Jaunkalns Miller Architects Ltd., said soil conditions were assessed by a geotechnical engineer as silty clay, with the consultantย ย recommending a foundation system of micropiles embedded in bedrock.
โThere was no mention (in the geotechnical engineerโs report) that the proposed building would be prone to sinking.โ He added that all foundation details which include reinforced concrete structure were incorporated in the cost report submitted to the city last November.
David Jackowski, the project manager for the city, said ground conditions at the building site are common in Northern Ontario, โwhich is the reason we conducted a thorough geotechnical study.โ The word โsinkโ or โsinkingโ does not appear anywhere in the geotechnical report, he said, adding that the study refers to building settlement.
โSettlement is something every building must contend with, including buildings built on rock.ย The expected settlement rate for all parts of the building and foundation systems have been considered in the design,โ he said, noting as well that the geotechnical report will form part of the tender documents.
And while the move to tender was approved in a six to five vote with North Bay Mayor Peter Chirico and King among those in opposition, proponents of the project as constituted say after years of planning, they are eager to proceed.
โItโs time to initiate the tender process. Only then will we have the most updated costs and be able to make the most informed decision,โ said Councillor Justine Mallah. โAs we have already discussed, we can turn away if the numbers come back massively higher than expected. We wonโt know until we go there.โ
The previous North Bay council had directed staff to complete the building design to achieve the requirements for net zero carbon certification, so the project qualified for funding from the federal governmentโs Green and Inclusive Community Buildings program.
The new council is now counting on a $25.77 million Green and Inclusive Community Buildings grant from Ottawa โ available until March 31, 2026, but it is a finite funding
โA $52-million community and recreation centre for $26 million is in the best interests of our community,โ Mallah said.
Severino told council prior to the tendering approval vote that the cost estimate was prepared by consultants with a variance of plus or minus five per cent.
โI would not hazard a guess as to what the market will do. I think the best we can do is have the actual cost and come back to council,โ he said, adding the city has a 6.9 per cent construction contingency fund.