When Ralph Cipolla was first elected to city council in 1977, a newspaper clipping trumpeted Orillia’s “youngest-ever” councillor who said he had two primary priorities: bringing jobs to Orillia and building a recreation centre.
The latter has taken a lot longer than expected. But Cipolla, now a Ward 2 councillor, can see the dream becoming a reality as steel girders begin to give the new project shape as it grows out of the dirt at 255 West St.
The original plan called for the $53-million project to open in September. Many in the community have expressed concerns after hearing rumblings the opening might be delayed. At a council committee meeting Monday night, council received an exhaustive update on the project – including a slick drone video showing phases of work already completed – that included the news that the facility will not open on time.
The report said the project’s general contractor has informed the municipality that he anticipates an opening in “the first quarter of 2019.” Staff said that was not acceptable and they are working with the contractor to expedite the process.
While frustrated by the delay, Cipolla said it’s not unexpected – and not something to fret about. “It’s not a big deal,” he said. “I’ve been involved in construction just about all my life and it happens. I don’t think it’s a big concern.”
He concedes it could “cause havoc” for user groups who were banking on a fall opening, but his hope is the building will open before the end of the year – a hope echoed by Mayor Steve Clarke.
“My sense is that we’re working together to get it open by the end of the year,” Clarke told OrilliaMatters after Monday night’s meeting. “It’s the biggest project in the city’s history and it’s going to be a beautiful, true community centre. We want to do it right. If it has to be a month or two or more later than expected to get it done right, it’s not my first choice to delay it, but I’m OK with it.”
He’s also confident the project will be built within the budget – which includes a $2 million contingency. He said it’s not uncommon to have unexpected issues on a large project and said the almost $490,000 spent, to date, on change orders is not unusual.
“The scope of this project is so much bigger, so there is more opportunity for change orders and, of course, it is on a brownfield, which presents challenges,” said Clarke. “The good news is we’re out of the ground for all intents and purposes and a lot of the unknowns on a project like this are below ground … and yet we’re on budget.”
Robert Allen, the lead architect for the project, concurred. He conceded “this site did have a few wrinkles” and below-ground issues that “exposes the project to the greatest financial risk. Yes, obviously, there are still risks. It’s not a risk-free environment, but the main risk components have been seen through.”
Allen has been involved in many large-scale projects and said delays are not uncommon. “Unfortunately, we did hit a few unknown conditions during construction and those have contributed to a little bit of a delay … but I would point out that those unforeseen things happen in a lot of projects.”
Cipolla said he wishes residents were more positive about the new facility. “I’m just tired of the negativity,” he said, referencing comments on social media claiming the project is off track and poised to be significantly over budget. “Many people don’t understand a project of this size and they think something’s wrong (if they don’t see action on the site.) I would honestly reassure them there is nothing wrong, we have some very intelligent people behind this. I trust them and the community should trust them.”
Clarke said the negativity may be borne from the frustration of multiple starts and stops over the past four decades. “This particular project has a sensitivity around it unlike any other I’ve seen since coming to Orillia,” said the mayor. “I’m hoping we’ve gone from a crisis of confidence to a mantra of ‘Yes we can’. Some in the community tend to gravitate to negativity and there is a sensitivity by some on council to certainly keep it on budget and, as much as possible, on schedule.”
Coun. Sarah Valiquette-Thompson expressed some concerns about the project remaining on budget. She alluded to some information presented to council in closed session that has left her worried about potential unexpected costs on the horizon.
“There was a lot of information discussed in closed session that, unfortunately, we aren’t able to discuss in open session,” said Valiquette-Thompson. “We know that number is going to change. It’s unfair to say, really, we’re on budget at this point.”
But Kent Guptil, director of facilities and special projects for the city, said he anticipates the project will come in on budget even though he cautioned of unforeseen circumstances.
“There are always unknowns and you can’t predict them, but we are working together to move the opening date as early as possible and we’re going to work this budget to try and keep this under budget and, to date, we are,” he said.
To date, about $18 million of the $53.6-M budget has been spent and officials estimate one-third of the construction has been completed.
To see the video about the project or for more information, the city has devoted a section of its website to the project: http://orillia.ca/recreationfacility
