Northern Sports Centre Construction Hopefuls Here

Wednesday, July 13, 2005 04:00 AM

Architectural rendering of the Northern Sports Center

Today, companies vying for the contract to build the Northern Sports Centre Complex will visit the site at UNBC.

So far, ten companies have registered to view the site in preparation for submitting their bid for construction. The session today is not mandatory, so it is possible more submissions may be coming from companies not registered to take part in today's events.

Those interested in bidding on the project will get a better picture of the plan through an information presentation set for later this morning, then an overview of the University and finally a detailed tour of the where the sports complex will be built. There are some local firms planning on bidding the job.

The complex is to be located at the entrance of the University, and will house a multi-court gymnasium, indoor traack, multi-use indoor field and training centre.

Funding for the centre is shared by the municipality, UNBC, the Province and private partnerships and donations. There is also a hope for soome funding from the Federal level. The Province has already committed $20.5 million to the project.

The time-line for the complex has all submissions in by the end of this month, the short listing of possible contractors in September, a final decision and deal signed by December, and the facility up and "running" in early 2007.
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Posted on Wednesday, July 13, 2005 04:00 AM in News by 250 News

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Comments

Posted by: spanky on July 13 2005 9:12 PM

IMO this project will probably be greatly scaled back before completion. Every publicly funded project in ol PG ends up a few yards short of a first down. Oh well, this time i will not be surprised.

listen learn, educate others, hey listen to the spankshow and you might actually impress someone with something that comes out of your mouth for a change!

Posted by: gypsy on July 14 2005 9:32 AM

I could be wrong--does not happen often, but it is my understanding this Sports complex was expected to come in at a cost of well over THIRTY MILLION, (30). That certainly impies many millions are in limbo at this time. These contractors were expected to be major contibutors in some form, not just to view the site and submit a bid for construction. And just what would a so called "private" partnership consist of??? We all know what "donations" are, but does not a "partnership" have an entirely different meaning???? At the present time I propose it is still a "pie in the sky" project until all financing is in place. Am I wrong? I hope not, as this project can only be a plus for this city. Of course, that would be dependent on having the populace to utilize such a facility!!!!! I really have difficulty dealing with people who have a pessimistic attitude, including myself!!!

Posted by: owl on July 14 2005 3:53 PM

I agree that in many cases the term "partnership" is missused.

As I understand it, this is a "design - build - operate" agreement. It could simply be a fee-for-service agreement on the entire package. provide the facility to our specifications and we will agree to pay you specific dollars for a 25 to 35 year agreement. Such fee schedules can become very complex as can operating conditions.

That method is becoming relatively common place with various governments.

Here is a link to a firm which specializes in providing that type of service. I am sure that they are quite used to such negotiations right now and I hope we have the resources to drive a hard bargain.

One thing I am reasonably sure of, providing the facility on University property with UNBC involved we will likely be spending 20% to 30% more for such a facility than if it were built in a bit more of a "spartan" fashion.

Not that it should not be "our turn" to get some high profile buildings, but they do come at a cost.

A few examples from the same company.

http://www.giffels.com/partnershipsolutions2.asp

http://www.giffels.com/partnershipsolutions3.asp

http://www.giffels.com/partnershipsolutions.asp

Posted by: owl on July 14 2005 4:14 PM

Here's another one .....

http://www.freecpd.co.uk/international_news/asia_pacific/amec_achieves_a_first_in_south_korea

One of the ways of looking at this is to say that governments can provide infrastructure services to their citizens by not spending any money ....

As I understand it, they do it by giving private companies the rights to operate a monopoly in many cases, and where it is not a monopoly, a guarantee of payment should business not develop as projected.

And therein, I believe, lies the rub. How to ensure that risk is equally distributed.

It scares me when Council just recently appeared to run scared of a law suit and does not seem to get legal opinions at the appropriate time.