Sealift delays Iqaluit aquatic centre work by three weeks

Pierre Meredith of MHPM Inc., the company doing project management on the Iqaluit aquatic centre project, speaking to Iqaluit City Council Oct. 6. (PHOTO BY STEVE DUCHARME)

The firm constructing Iqaluit’s new aquatic centre says the exterior of the building should be completed by summer 2016 with a scheduled opening of the pool still on track for 2017. (PHOTO BY THOMAS ROHNER)

Due to sealift delays, Iqaluit’s new aquatic centre is three weeks behind schedule, contractors told Iqaluit City Council Oct. 6.

“Overall, the Kudlik [Aquatic Centre contractor] progress to date has generally been good. They did incur three weeks delay associated with the sealift arrival and unloading in July and August,” said Pierre Meredith, co-ordinator with MHPM Inc., the aquatic centre’s project manager.

“They’re working on making up the three weeks, their plan currently is to do that by working later into the season,” Meredith said.

Kudlik Construction Ltd. is the contractor responsible for overall construction of the building, under a contract the city awarded them in February 2015.

Kudlik has given themselves a Dec. 1 deadline to catch up on the delays caused by the sealift.

They were originally supposed to end their construction season this year on Nov. 6.

After MHPM Inc.’s presentation, Coun. Terry Dobbin complained that council was never informed about approved change orders on Kudlik’s budget, estimated at $80,900.

“There’s no council approval on any of these change orders. These are taxpayers dollars we are talking about here,” Dobbin said.

Meredith said the change orders reflect a combination of several miscalculations from the original quote on the project.

They include:

• additional unforeseen insurance charges totalling $42,000 added by the Bank of Montreal;

• $17,000 in missing components for pool equipment that was not included in original work orders;

• $25,000 in additional steel orders to account for discrepancies in the aquatic centre’s drawings; and,

• a credit of roughly $3,000 to the City of Iqaluit because of a change in manufacturer of the pool’s pumps.

“I have a spending authority to a certain amount and anything over and above my spending authority would go to the CAO,” said Amy Elgersma the Iqaluit director of recreation.

The budget allotted for the Aquatic Centre also includes a $1.8 million construction contingency allowance that will cover the $80,900.

The city will also earn approximately $80,000 to $90,000 in rent this year for leasing land to the contractors for the storage of construction materials and other assets.

For the future, however, there is no clear consensus on whether city council approval will be sought for other additional charges.

The projected cost of the aquatic centre is estimated at $40.5 million.

So far, the city has been invoiced for $12.4 million worth of project costs.

MHPM Inc. offered to provide a tour of the facility for new council members after the municipal elections.

The expected completion date for the Iqaluit Aquatic Centre is 2017, with completion of the exterior building by summer of next year.

The city’s municipal elections will be held Oct. 19.