The City of Thorold has tapped Manorcore Construction Inc. to build the new fire hall on McCleary Drive.
As ThoroldToday reported, due to issues at the old Fire Station 1 building such as asbestos and leaking sewage, the city is looking to build a new fire hall on the corner of McCleary Drive and Collier Road South.
“Our intent is so have them digging in earnest in early September,” said the city’s Manager of Engineering Sean Dunsmore, during a recent city council meeting.
The project will cost the city $11,028,700 (plus HST) to complete, which means that the project comes in under budget of what city council had set aside for it during their 2022 budget deliberations.
The news was happily received by many council members.
“The pricing consultant we used did a great job obviously,” said councillor Anthony Longo. “I’m really happy we engaged Manorcore to do it. I believe they did the arena for us in the past. They did a fantastic job and I trust they’ll do a fantastic job here for us.”
Councillor Jim Handley wondered if there was an expectation to go over budget, as some recent major city projects have.
“There is a contingency included in the construction,” answered Dunsmore. “That contingency is about 10% of the project so probably about one million dollars. Some of the small changes that have to happen we would include in the contingency and pay for and hopefully we won’t have to come back for any more money.”
Almost every councillor spoke at the council meeting to share their praise and excitement for the project.
“I could probably say I waited until this happened and then I am retiring,” joked councillor Fred Neale. “We put it through and now Terry [Dixon, Thorold Fire Chief] will have a nice, new building. If you’ll invite me to the opening I would appreciate it.”
The new fire hall is expected to be completed by 2024.
