By Cecilia Nasmith/Northumberland 89.7 FM/Today’s Northumberland
The current occupancy date for the new Golden Plough Lodge-Northumberland County Archives and Museum building is June 24, 2025.
The report Director of Public Works Denise Marshall presented at Northumberland County council’s Public Works Committee meeting says that the building is now 76% complete. Exterior cladding and masonry are about 95% complete, curbs have been installed and roofing is complete.
The report also sets out problems that have pushed the completion date of Phase 1 (the construction date of the new dual facility) more than two and a half years beyond its original Oct. 31, 2022 target.
The delays also necessitated a mediation that included – among its other terms – a 25% increase to the total project project cost to $144,487,330 (up from the original budget of $115,428,999) increase to the contract price of $1.975-million. The increase is mostly due to higher construction costs and increases to the construction contract through mediation settlement agreements with the contractor.
While this is not a desirable turn of events, the report pointed out, Statistics Canada figures show the construction price index for Canada’s metropolitan areas has increased 32.9% for residential and 23.3% for non-residential projects over the same time period due to dramatic increases in costs for materials and fuel, as well as issues with supply chain, labour disputes and shortages.
Going forward, the contractor is required to provide monthly schedule updates and, if any delays are identified to provide a recovery schedule that include measure to mitigate the delay to meet agreed-upon occupancy dates.
