Councillor balks at cost of moving house
Plan is to move stone home to make way for park’s soccer fields, which could cost upwards of $500K
KITCHENER — As work gets underway for the long-awaited South District Park, concerns are being raised about potential costs for the project.
Design work is well underway for the $10.3-million first phase of the park at Huron and Fischer-Hallman roads, which will open by spring 2019. A park has been on the books for the booming southwest since 1991.
But at a heritage committee meeting this week, Coun. Bil Ioannidis expressed dismay about the costs of moving an 1861 stone cottage on the site of the park to make way for soccer fields.
And councillors will consider a report next week that says consulting costs for park planning and design have gone up $355,000, though staff say those extra costs can be covered in the existing budget for the project.
“I’m going to oppose this,” Ioannidis said at Tuesday’s heritage meeting Tuesday. “It is a significant amount of dollars.”
A consultant’s study this spring recommended that the stone cottage be moved and re-purposed, possibly as a park washroom or concession stand, at a cost of about $450,000. The final cost would likely be much higher, since the estimate didn’t include things such as electrical work, paint or plumbing.
City heritage staff are also recommending the house be moved, and relocation is included in the park master plan and overall budget.
Other options included restoring the house and leaving it in place, for $220,000, though that would result in a less efficient park layout; retaining the house on site as a ruin at a cost of about $150,000; and demolishing the house but using some salvaged material to commemorate the building, for $40,000.
“I’m in favour of it being relocated,” Ioannidis said. “What I’m not in favour of is the half-million dollars.” He asked that council be provided with more information about the costs of those various options at a meeting later this month.
Meanwhile, costs for the consulting and early planning for the park have jumped by $355,000, according to a report that city councillors will consider this Monday at Kitchener’s city’s community services committee.
The contract for consulting services was awarded to Stantec Consulting in 2015 for $883,000.
Three things have pushed those costs up, said Denise McGoldrick, the city’s director of operations for environmental services, in an interview: the need to create a plan to move the 1861 cottage; a Phase 2 environmental study to determine if there is any contamination from fuel storage or machinery repair from earlier uses of the land on which the park will be built; and a Phase 2 archeological study to determine if there were any archeological artifacts on the site. The environmental and archeological studies are required under provincial law.
The extra consulting costs can be covered under the project’s overall $10.3-million price, McGoldrick stressed. “Certainly we feel we can accomplish all the elements of Phase 1 without any additional budget.”
The archeological study uncovered 22 artifacts dating back about 3,000 years, but no evidence of a significant native settlement, McGoldrick said. The artifacts, dated to between 1100 and 950 BC, were mostly chips and stone flakes from the making of stone tools, as well as a projectile point such as an arrowhead or spear point.
The South District Park is to be built in phases. The first phase of the park will include a splash pad and sports fields. The second phase will add trails, sports courts and washrooms, while Phase 3 will add a bike track and skateboard park, with an indoor pool and arenas coming later. The project is on schedule, with grading set to happen this fall. Construction is expected to start in the spring.
The city is holding a public open house about the plans for the park on Thursday, Sept. 14, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Dedication Centre at Williamsburg Cemetery, 1541 Fischer-Hallman Rd.