Region to control Games Park construction
Project being built for 2021 has an estimated budget of $83 million
Niagara Region will be responsible for managing the remaining construction of Canada Games Park after a vote of council Thursday.
Regional councillors voted for staff to assume the contractual lead for managing the construction process at the park, which is being built at Brock University. The park will serve as the centrepiece of the 2021 Canada Summer Games in Niagara.
The previous council voted to cover any capital or operational overruns for the Games.
“The decision to do this is already made,” said Niagara Falls Mayor Jim Diodati. “We have committed to this project. You can’t be partially committed like you can’t be partially pregnant.
“It’s the right decision for the Region to backstop this because we have some control. Trust is good. Control is better. With the experience we have here on staff, I feel much better about this.”
The Region has committed $24 million to date to the project. Once the Games are over, the facility will be run by a consortium that includes Brock University, the Region, the city of St. Catharines, and the town of Thorold and be available for community use.
The facility will house a quad gym, two ice pads, a track-andfield facility, beach volleyball courts, a cycling pavilion and parking. One of the ice pads will seat 1,200 spectators, the other 200. The gym will have an upper-level, 200-metre track for walking and running in winter.
The budget for Canada Games Park, as well as a new accessible rowing facility on Henley Island, is $88 million, with about $5 million earmarked for the Henley project.
“The host society and the federal and provincial governments, are evaluating everything about the Games on an ongoing basis and whether any alternatives are required because of COVID,” said Ron Tripp, the acting regional chief operating officer. “Nothing has been decided.”
The host society also hasn’t asked for any extra funding at this point, Tripp said.
Tripp estimates that the Canada Games Park project was likely about $2 million over budget. The figure includes unforeseen soil conditions that have already been corrected.
Tripp said there are enough contingency fees to cover an extra $2 million.
The staff report said the total budget estimate for the Games sits at $146.7 million.
The report also said revisions are underway and will likely be available from the host committee in July.
The host committee’s problem is a series of unforeseen obstacles that have cut into the timeline for Canada Games Park.
The first was the change of government after the provincial election in 2018. The Progressive Conservatives took over from the Liberals, and while they supported the project, they immediately halted government spending until they had a chance to review the books.
Then the COVID-19 crisis hit, which stopped the contractor, Brampton-based Aquicon Construction, from working this spring, though construction has since resumed.
The rush to have the park “Games ready” may increase costs.
Councillors spent hours in a closed-door session before the special meeting began getting legal advice on the Region’s role.
“To me, our original sin is agreeing to assume responsibility for cost overruns, both capital and operating, without strong oversight,” Fort Erie Mayor Wayne Redekop said.
Tripp said taking over the management of the project would give staff, and council, a “clear line of sight” on the budget as well as an early opportunity to mitigate overruns, whatever they might be.
St. Catharines Coun. Laura Ip said she wasn’t thrilled with the agreement signed during the council’s last term to cover all the overruns.
“I just philosophically don’t think we should be involved in this,” Ip said. “Nothing I’ve heard here has changed my mind.”