More money requested for Clearwater library renos

The cost to build a new home for Lambton’s Mallroad library in Sarnia has increased again.

City officials are asking for another $150,000 for a 370-square-metre (4,000-square-foot) renovation project at the nearby Clearwater Arena.

If city council OK’s the extra expense March 13, the total project will be about $1.05 million, city staff said in postponed to council.

The $150,000 is needed for another fire escape, a necessity identified during the building permit process, community services general manager Stacey Forfar said in the report.

An external staircase for the exit was deemed the most cost-effective and practical option, city spokesperson Steve Henschel said in an email. Details about the other options considered weren’t available, he said.

City staff and the city’s architect decided to “err on the side of caution” and add the staircase, Forfar’s report says.

Forfar said in October she hoped for construction could start before the end of 2022.

It’s now targeted to start in late March, with interior renovations expected to finish in September, her report says.

After renovations are done, the library location’s 17,500 volumes will be moved from Mallroad, her report says.

Initial estimates were under $200,000 for the second-floor arena renovations, as part of has vision to turn the facility into a sort of community hub, but a combination of issues with the building and rising construction costs contributed to a $700,000 budget increase last summer.

A then-$776,000 contract with Maaten Construction was announced in September.

“It’s a project we want to see continue, creating a hub for that area of ​​the community,” Henschel said.

Forfar’s report calls the cost increase unfortunate.

AT transit terminal project at Clearwater, replacing the one on Murphy Road, is also part of the hub vision.

The project that has about $1.2-million in federal and provincial grant funding, and an overall budget of about $2.35 million — after rising construction costs prompted city council to approve an extra $750,000 last summer — is expected to be tendered this month, and start in the late spring or summer, city engineering and operations general manager David Jackson said.

A master plan for the arena-turning-community hub is also planned, Henschel said.

There was $200,000 for that work budgeted in 2022, and carried over into 2023, he said in an email.

“The plan will provide an overall road map for the future of the Clearwater Community Center site, including exterior and interior recreation and building upgrades as infrastructure approaches end of life and we look to reinvest in this recreation hub for the future.”

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