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City council agrees to take the next step in the process of demolishing Victoriaville Centre and reconstructing Victoriaville Avenue.
Council agreed to demolish the structure in a unanimous vote last year, after it was determined it would continue to lose the city money. The result of the discussion Monday night means the approval of the contract consulting expenses of nearly $1.3-million related to design, surveying, as well as environmental and geotechnical work required. As a result of the timing, the costs are not being included in the proposed 2022 Capital Budget.
Manager of Realty Services Joel Depeuter explains the scope of the project.
“There’s a lot going on, there will be a lot of visible and obvious work that will happen before 2025,” says Depeuter. “It is true that design will take a year and there’s a lot to that, it involved the design of changes that need to occur to buildings within the mall, the design of the demolition of the structure, and excitingly the design of the streetscape and public spaces, so there’s quite a bit of work to be done.”
Depueter goes on to say they will attempt to compress their construction schedule, but says it can be difficult with such a short construction season.
Mayor Bill Mauro was involved in the discussion, stressing his confidence in the project.
“The Victoriaville infrastructure has been a piece of contentious infrastructure in Thunder Bay for a long time,” says Mauro. “I think the community certainly in the south core has been looking for a decision to be made, and I think as a group we have made that decision to move forward, and I think it was a very positive step made some time ago.”
The current working project schedule is shown below.
Finalize Conceptual Design (Renovations, Demolition, Redevelopment) July 2022
Preparation of contract documents (Renovations) July 2022-January 2023
Commence construction (Renovation) May 2023
Commence construction (Demolition) May 2024
Commence construction (Redevelopment) May 2025
Project completion October 2025
