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City of North Vancouver council is breathing a sigh of relief that a massive project to rebuild the city’s Harry Jerome Recreation Centre remains on-time and on-budget for its latest $230-million target, according to municipal staff.
With work on the foundation for the building well underway, city staff gave an update on the project to council Nov. 6.
Ninety-five per cent of the perimeter foundation walls have now been completed and major concrete slab pours are continuing throughout the fall and spring, staff said.
Work to install mechanical and electrical systems is also now underway on the site.
A report by Robert Skene, deputy director of civic development and strategic initiatives, acknowledged work on Harry Jerome is taking place in a volatile construction market, where cost estimates have increased due to inflation, supply chain issues, rising interest rates and both trucking and labour cost hikes.
Many major trade tenders for excavation and building envelope work, drywall, steel studs and glazing came in “significantly over” the project’s original estimates, according to the report.
There was also a $4 million unexpected cost to remediate contaminated soils on the site. As part of the excavation for the building’s foundation and underground parking, crews had to haul away more than 3,000 truckloads of soil contaminated by road salt and naturally occurring arsenic.
All those costs resulted in the project’s budget shooting upwards from $205 million to $230 million. The latest budget was approved by council in February of this year.
So far, it looks like that’s where costs are staying.
That was good news for City of North Vancouver council.
“I particularly like the lines ‘on time, on budget’,” said Mayor Linda Buchanan, following a staff presentation Monday night.
“I really applaud everyone involved in this project,” said Coun. Angela Girard.
The project involves a lot of moving parts, including the eventual development of new rental housing towers on the site of the current Harry Jerome Recreation Centre, along with a seniors care facility. The Silver Harbour Seniors Centre will move into a new standalone building adjacent to the rec centre. Planning for renovations to the old Mickey McDougall Recreation Centre to become the new home of Flicka Gymnastics is also currently underway, said staff.
Most of the more visible construction for the recreation centre is expected to take place in 2024, described as a pivotal year for the project.
When completed, the rec centre will also feature three public art projects, including a large, suspended sculpture by artist Jill Anholt, Transcendence, in the atrium, meant to symbolize a track like the one Harry Jerome ran on, as well as a Coast Salish hand-woven wall hanging in the main stairwell by master weaver Angela George. A third piece of art has yet to be finalized.
The recreation centre is expected to open to the public in late 2025.
The Harry Jerome rebuild comes after council debates and public processes dating back more than a decade.
In July 2018, council approved a $237-million Harry Jerome rebuild including a 50-metre pool, curling rink and rooftop sports courts. But, in 2019, the new council hit pause on issuing construction contracts. When the Harry Jerome rebuild came back for approval in 2020, council scaled it down, losing the larger pool, a second gymnasium and curling. The hope was to reduce the capital cost to an estimated $180 million and lower operational costs over the life of the new centre. Late in 2021, a deal to finance construction through a long-term lease of the adjacent lands for redevelopment by Darwin Properties fell through, requiring the city to seek short-term loans to keep the project going.
The project is the largest ever in the city’s capital program.
