After more than a year of demolition, excavation and construction, the Perth County courthouse connecting-link addition is nearing completion with county staff expected to move into the new county headquarters in November.
Perth County executive director of public works John McClelland presented an update on the project to county councillors at their Oct. 3 regular meeting. Demolition and construction at 5 Huron St., located on the Perth County Courthouse campus, began in July 2023 and is expected to wrap up in October 2024. The project, which was awarded to Dakon Construction Ltd. at a cost of just over $5 million, included a $200,000 contingency allowance to cover any unexpected costs.
Since then, county council has approved two increases to that contingency allowance – $150,000 in April to address a number of unforeseen costs and another $75,000 in August after the contractor found an old oil tank at the back of the building county staff believe was part of the original heating system. The total budget for the project is now over $5.5 million.
“Let it be noted that I’m not requesting any other contingency increases this week,” McClelland smiled. “The report is positive; we are making significant progress. To date, construction costs incurred total approximately $3.6 million.
“At the last project update, I noted the discovery of an old oil tank. At that point in time, just the work to be done there, there was certainly concern for delays to the project completion because of that. I’m happy to report that we’ve remediated the area. Everything’s been taken care of and we are just awaiting TSSA (Technical Standards and Safety Authority) final approval on that, which I hope to be forthcoming.”
McClelland said he expects the costs associated with remediating the area where the oil tank was discovered to be approximately $100,000. After the oil tank work was completed, the contractor was able to complete some key work to help keep the project on track.
The building’s hydro upgrade was completed by Festival Hydro in the first week of September which then allowed the elevator subcontractor to begin installation work. The majority of the elevator installation is now complete and the county is now waiting for masons to finish block work before installing the elevator cab and doors.
As of Sept. 9, the parking lot has been graded and paved, and the sidewalks and curbs are poured. The majority of the concrete walkway and retaining wall around the side and back of the building has now been poured and backfilling and grading in that area will commence shortly.
Inside the connecting-link addition, which connects the Perth County courthouse and the building that once housed the Perth County land-registry and Stratford’s Service Ontario offices, McClelland said the lower level is painted and most of the light fixtures have been installed. Flooring was expected to begin at the end of September.
On the main level, drywalling, painting and ceiling structural work has been completed. Lighting and some mechanical work are ongoing in the finished ceiling, and glass walls and doors for offices and meeting rooms are expected to be installed in the next two weeks.
“We are getting down to the finishing stages of this project and it’s very pleasing to see almost every day you’re seeing change to the project as far as coming to completion,” McClelland said. “You can now get a sense of the space that we’re going to be working in and I was able to tour our management team through that last week. … The contractor was on schedule to complete in the month of November. We anticipate occupancy in the month of November, however when that is will be determined by a few things including the commissioning of the elevator by TSSA and also commissioning of the heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system within the building.”
“John, you’ve done a great job,” Perth County Warden Rhonda Ehgoetz said. “We really appreciate all the effort you’ve put into this and it’s really great to see the stages as we’re going through here and the photos and where it’s going. It is exciting as we get to the end and I’m sure you’ll be glad when we’re at the end.”
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