The city has awarded a contract for Rotary Aqua Theatre repairs and increased the project’s budget by $72,000.
Council was told Monday it had to move quickly because of the rapidly fluctuating cost of materials.
In May 2020, the city awarded the contract, in the amount of $537,509, to Yorkton Construction. The company told the city the job couldn’t be completed at the submitted bid price “due to miscellaneous complications due to the COVID-19 pandemic (interruptions to supply chains, interruptions to the scheduling of sub-contractors and temporary shutdowns of construction activity),” staff stated in a report.
On Feb. 1, Yorkton provided a new price — $570,179 — that it could hold only until Feb. 12 due to “continued volatility in the construction trades caused by COVID-19.”
Also, the consulting architect suggested the city increase its contingency for the project by 10 per cent.
Given those changes, the city was looking at a $72,000 shortage.
Council approved staff’s request for the contingency, and to award the contract to Yorkton Construction for $570,179.
That brings the total cost of the project to $672,658.85.
Before council approved the increase, Mayor Steve Clarke asked if staff had confidence in the contractor based on previous work.
John McMullen, manager of park planning and development, noted the Barrie-based company had not completed any jobs in Orillia, but he said reference checks were positive.
Coun. Tim Lauer inquired about the project timeline. McMullen said staff have been trying to get the contractor to commit to a start date but were asked to approve the budget before the company could provide those details.
“We would like to have the project begin as early as possible,” McMullen said, adding the goal is to start in late spring or early summer and finish by the end of construction season.
The project would take about eight weeks, he said.
Lauer has heard concerns about the possibility of trees behind the Aqua Theatre being removed as part of the project.
“We would just create an ideal graffiti wall, as we did with the water treatment (plant) wall that’s right by it there,” he said.
The idea of removing trees to allow for movies to be screened on the back of the theatre, for boaters, came up during the city’s waterfront study, McMullen said. Tree removal is not part of this project, but it’s something that could be considered later, he said, adding it would be assessed by staff at that time.
The Aqua Theatre has been at Couchiching Beach Park for about 60 years and it is now “unusable,” McMullen noted in his report. Structural reviews over the past decade have led to calls for repairs.
The project will include a new concrete floor slab and drain, door replacement, painting, wall repairs, new fixtures, replacement of supporting beams, a new electrical service and a sloping cedar shake roof, among other work.