Ontario Construction News staff writer
Northern Bruce Peninsula council has directed staff to move ahead with a construction management method for the design and construction of the Lion’s Head Arena project.
Council accepted a report from CAO Peggy Van Mierlo-West directing architecture firm Salton Pilon to move ahead with the construction management method, as well as capping the project at $10 million.
Construction management oversees the planning, design, and construction of the project, including the scope, timeline and cost.
Work will include creating six new dressing rooms accessible to the arena floor level, creating a new multi-purpose room suitable for community presentation and gatherings, creating a new branch library space for the Bruce County Library system, and renovating the existing washrooms/building new washrooms to improve the accessibility for people with disabilities.
The report says the management team has met with Salter Pilon to discuss the project in 2022 and the firm has provided a Design Bid Build plan that could cap construction costs and reduce timelines by up to four months from the current expected completion date of 2025.
The firm has also been involved with a variety of municipal type projects including the Orangeville Courthouse addition, Barrie Public Utilities Commission office building, a GST Regional Office, the Barrie Fire and Emergency Services Station No. 1 (LEED Silver), Brampton Fire Station 211 and Peel Regional Paramedic Services Satellite Station (LEED Gold), Ontario Provincial Police General Headquarters, Mady Centre for the Performing Arts, three standalone paramedic stations for the County of Simcoe, York Region Paramedic Response Station #13, City of Toronto Queen’s Plate Fire Hall, and the Grey Bruce Health Unit (LEED Gold).
The municipality currently has $4.9 million approved for the project from capital reserve, as well as provincial and federal funding.
“Based upon preliminary review and construction costs it is estimated that the cost of this project will be approximately $10 million, requiring the municipality to fund $5 million for this project,” Mierlo-West wrote in her report. “It is anticipated that this portion of the project will be funded through a loan from Infrastructure Ontario or a bank.
“Based on current interest rates and a 20-year amortization period, it is estimated that this project will have an annual impact of approximately $300,000 on the operating budget,” says the report.”