SUDBURY -- The $6.9-million cladding project to Sault Ste. Marie City Hall has suffered another delay.
The building’s facelift was supposed to be finished by June 2018. Then it got pushed back to the end of the year. Another setback had people hoping it would be finished December 2019. Now the city’s top engineer is hoping it will be done by the end of 2020.
"It’s slow going; it’s a tricky project," says Don Elliott, the director of engineering."“I think the biggest delay has been a change in the general contractor. He had to change sub-contractors mid-stream. That essentially meant aspects had to start over again, like shop drawing."
The city is upgrading the building’s windows and cladding. There hasn’t been a major update to the building in five decades.
"Main issue was essentially water penetration," he says. "The windows, things weren’t properly sealed up anymore."
Elliott added that "the windows and cladding reached their serviceable life."
The city is spending $6.9 million to fix the building. With the major delays, Elliott says Sault Ste. Marie will not be spending additional money to get the job fixed.
"There’s a clause in the contract that … protects the city from additional cost," he says.
