Convention centre expansion should stay on budget, minister adds
Bruce Constantineau
Sun
The Vancouver Convention & Exhibition Centre expansion project is expected to generate 6,700 construction jobs.
B.C. taxpayers will be liable for any cost overruns that occur during the $565 million Vancouver convention centre expansion project, Small Business and Economic Development Minister John Les confirmed Friday.
He stressed no one expects the project to run over budget, but if it does the province will have to cough up the extra funds.
“We’d be responsible, no question about that,” Les said in an interview.
“But with the strong management team we have and with the contingencies built into the budget, I’m completely confident it will be built for the amount that was announced — $565 million, all in.”
The federal and provincial governments have each committed $222.5 million for the new convention centre, with the tourism industry providing $90 million and convention centre leasing and vendor agreements kicking in another $30 million.
Les said the budget has a contingency fund of about $70 million to cover any unforeseen costs and if project officials see cost pressures on the horizon, they will have to deal with them in the context of a maximum budget of $565 million.
“Hypothetically, there are always [cost-saving] options in terms of design, finishings and a whole bunch of other things,” he said. “But on the upside, I think there are some commercial opportunities they might want to think about if they need to.”
A few North American convention centres, including the Telus Whistler Conference Centre, have raised money by selling their facility name to corporations. But Vancouver Convention & Exhibition Centre general manager Barbara Maple said the expanded Vancouver facility is unlikely to carry a corporate name like the Visa Vancouver Convention centre or the IBM Vancouver Convention Centre.
“We’re not pursuing anything like that now but never say never,” she said. “It’s just that it’s so important in our marketing to have the Vancouver, British Columbia, name front and centre as the destination. The Vancouver messaging is really important because it’s the draw.”
The expansion project on the west side of the existing convention centre at Canada Place will more than triple the facility’s 12,400 metres of function space by adding another 35,470 metres of space when completed by the summer of 2008.
The project, which officially began late last year, is expected to generate 6,700 construction jobs during the four-year building phase and support another 7,500 jobs after it’s finished.
Russ Anthony, president of Vancouver Convention Centre Expansion Project Ltd., said about $34 million worth of contract work has been awarded on the project since last summer. The two biggest recipients so far are Vancouver Pile Driving, which will get $14.3 million for winning five separate contracts, and Marubeni-Itochu Steel of Japan, which is getting $11 million for supplying more than 1,000 steel piles.
The contracts awarded so far mainly involve excavation, drilling and soil densification on the unique building site that’s a combination of water and landfill. Site preparation work and pile-driving activity will continue throughout the rest of this year before steel columns begin to emerge from a foundation by March 2006.
PCL Construction is the general contractor for the project but the total value of its contract will not be determined until later in the project, after the water phase is completed in about a year.
Anthony said another $45 million worth of contracts will be awarded over the next two months for pre-cast concrete, viaduct construction, exterior glazing and elevators and escalators.
He said the bidding process for work on the project has been extremely competitive and noted several smaller firms have joined together on certain bids so they can compete effectively against larger companies.
“If this becomes an instrument of getting our local industries to work together to go after the larger contracts, then that’s a great thing for the business community,” Anthony said.
Telus Whistler Conference Centre, have raised money by selling their facility name to corporations.
But Vancouver Convention & Exhibition Centre general manager Barbara Maple said the expanded Vancouver facility is unlikely to carry a corporate name like the Visa Vancouver Convention centre or the IBM Vancouver Convention Centre.
“We’re not pursuing anything like that now but never say never,” she said. “It’s just that it’s so important in our marketing to have the Vancouver, British Columbia, name front and centre as the destination. The Vancouver messaging is really important because it’s the draw.”
The expansion project on the west side of the existing convention centre at Canada Place will more than triple the facility’s 12,400 metres of function space by adding another 35,470 metres of space when completed by the summer of 2008.
The project, which officially began late last year, is expected to generate 6,700 construction jobs during the four-year building phase and support another 7,500 jobs after it’s finished.
Russ Anthony, president of Vancouver Convention Centre Expansion Project Ltd., said about $34 million worth of contract work has been awarded on the project since last summer. The two biggest recipients so far are Vancouver Pile Driving, which will get $14.3 million for winning five separate contracts, and Marubeni-Itochu Steel of Japan, which is getting $11 million for supplying more than 1,000 steel piles.
The contracts awarded so far mainly involve excavation, drilling and soil densification on the unique building site that’s a combination of water and landfill. Site preparation work and pile-driving activity will continue throughout the rest of this year before steel columns begin to emerge from a foundation by March 2006.
PCL Construction is the general contractor for the project but the total value of its contract will not be determined until later in the project, after the water phase is completed in about a year.
Anthony said another $45 million worth of contracts will be awarded over the next two months for pre-cast concrete, viaduct construction, exterior glazing and elevators and escalators.
He said the bidding process for work on the project has been extremely competitive and noted several smaller firms have joined together on certain bids so they can compete effectively against larger companies.
WE’VE ONLY JUST BEGUN
Major contracts awarded so far in the $565-million Vancouver convention centre expansion project, completion date summer 2008:
Vancouver Pile Driving: $14.3 million for site preparation, pile-driving and offshore dredging, filling and ground improvement.
Marubeni-Itochu Steel (Japan): $11 million for more than 1,000 one-metre-diameter steel piles.
Hayward Baker (Washington state): $4 million for onshore site stabilization work.
JJM Construction (Delta):
$2 million for civic construction work.
Southwest Contracting (Surrey): $800,000 for excavation work.
© The Vancouver Sun 2005
