Ontario Street parking garage saga enters second phase
A staircase and elevator under construction at the Ontario Street parking garage have finally reopened 10 months behind schedule, but a second phase of renovations is just beginning.
That phase, which includes work on a second staircase, was supposed to be complete in December 2018 but is now slated for this December.
The city’s project supervisor Vincent Covatta said it’s expected the contractor will meet that target.
While the work on both staircases is essentially the same, the second phase of the project doesn’t have the added complexity of elevator and lobby renovations.
“This phase is much less complicated than the first phase,” Covatta said Tuesday. “The first phase involved an elevator and quite extensive repairs to each floor of the lobby, a lot of waterproofing, roofing and a lot of work in the elevator machine room.”
The city announced Tuesday the southeast stairway on William Street, closest to the pedestrian bridge for Meridian Centre, has reopened after more than a year of renovations by its contractor.
The improvements included replacing the stairs, stairway enclosure, landings, railings, elevator lobby and upgrading the two elevators — work that was supposed to wrap up in late September 2018.
One of the two elevators has reopened and Covatta said the second will be ready for the public in about two weeks.
The second phase of work to replace the northeast stairway on William Street is starting this week and that stairway was closed Tuesday.
The long overdue parking garage renovations have frustrated city councillors, who expressed concerns at a May 27 meeting about the length of time the project was taking and its ballooning costs.
Because the construction schedule went longer than the anticipated 35 weeks, a consultant hired by the city to make weekly site visits requested more money. Council authorized paying $177,600 in extra fees to Read Jones Christoffersen from a budget for parking meter replacements.
A staff report said because of safety complications which arose from closing both garage stairwells, the schedule was extended by an additional 14 weeks.
It’s not clear why the project has taken as long as it has now and council discussed the matter behind closed doors.
The city issued a request for tender for the construction in December 2017 and R-Chad General Contracting Ltd. submitted the lowest base bid. The $1.94million project began in spring 2018.