LAC LA BICHE – While the new aquatic facility at the Bold Centre in Lac La Biche is on time and on budget, the project could be impacted by cost increases as a result of the ongoing trade war with the United States.
The aquatic centre is projected to cost a total of $45 million with an expected completion date of mid-2026.
“We haven't received any hard notices from trades or vendors alerting us to cost increases, but we have received what we call a soft notice,” said Michael Harbison, a project manager with Turnbull Construction.
“It essentially states that there's uncertainty regarding the trade and tariff situation, and the contractors reserve their right to have a discussion about what that means for cost increases,” said Harbison.
He said they are working to mitigate their risk exposure to tariff associated cost increases by pre-purchasing things like wiring, lighting, and aluminum framing. Much of the mechanical equipment “like the pumps for the pool, the building air handling units, [and] the variable frequency drives” comes from American manufacturers.
According to Harbison, the budget started with a $1.2 million contingency fund, of which roughly $500,000 has already been spent on the gravel access road, relocation of the childmind space, building permit fees, and reintroduction of an elevator.
The remaining $580,000 of contingency funds is split into what Harbison called two buckets, the “known unknowns” and the “unknown unknowns.”
He said the ‘known unknowns’ is money that hasn’t been spent yet but they know they will have to spend over the course of construction.
“For example, we know that we need to spend an extra $20,000 or $30,000 on gas consumption for the project. We know that we need to incorporate AV and security into the project. We estimate it's roughly $140,000 but we don't know exactly what that number is,” said Harbison. Other known unknowns include sign relocation and consultants for third party testing.
‘Unknown unknowns’ are “costs that we just cannot foresee, we cannot predict, and we do not know what they're going to be,” said Harbison, noting the contingency fund has budgeted about $250,000 for ‘unknown unknowns.’
“That's probably the costs that could relate to unforeseen tariffs for future changes that are requested throughout the course of construction,” said Harbison.
As of the March 25 update to Lac La Biche County council, construction of the facility, which will include new lap and leisure pools, is roughly 35 per cent complete.
According to Alex Godfrey, a project manager with Turnbull Construction, right now they are working on installing the roof and external walls, with the goal of making the building weather tight as soon as possible.
“This is an important milestone because it protects all the work, especially sensitive finishes, work like drywall and tiling and so on, that will then take place afterwards inside the building enclosure. So, getting to that weather tight milestone allows us to do that sensitive work inside over the summer,” said Godfrey.
During the update, Ward 5 Coun. Charlynn Moore asked if the $70,000 spent to relocate the childminding space meant it would be staying upstairs. According to Godfrey, “it was supposed to be temporary,” and the current scope of the project does include integrating the childminding area with the new pool, meaning it will be moved back downstairs when construction is finished.
