The Town of The Blue Mountains is moving ahead with one major construction project, while another one has been placed on hold.
At its committee of the whole meeting on March 17, The Blue Mountains council received updates about two major construction projects – the new fire hall at Craigleith and the expansion of the Ravenna public works depot.
Phil Pesek, the town’s manager of facilities and fleet, reported to council about the two projects.
The new fire hall in Craigleith is moving full steam ahead. The design of the new facility is 100 per cent complete, contractors have been pre-qualified and the town is now moving to select a contractor for construction.
Pesek said because the new fire hall in Craigleith is being built to a net-zero standard, the project is eligible for a $1.5 million grant from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM). It is also eligible for an interest-free loan of $8.5 million from FCM.
The fire hall project was initially approved in 2023 with a budget of $13.3 million. The town will know more about the full cost of the project once the request for proposal process for the project is complete.
Pesek also reported that town staff had paused work on a planned upgrade/expansion of the town’s public works depot/building in Ravenna.
The project was initially proposed with a budget of $8.56 million. However, in 2023, the town purchased the property immediately next to the current depot. The extra property enabled the town to examine options for a much larger project on the site. The initial project would have been restrained to the footprint of the town’s initial property. With the extra land now in the town’s possession, larger expansion options became possible.
Pesek said the initial designs for the larger project were estimated at a cost of $29.5 million – far higher than the initial budget. The design is about 30 per cent complete and staff paused the project due to cost concerns.
“Things need to be addressed,” he said, noting that staff would be bringing back further information on the project in the near future.
Pesek noted that the Ravenna project would also be eligible for the $1.5 million FCM grant and $8.5 million loan.