It’s been almost two years since construction began on the new Bow River Senior’s Lodge in Canmore and residents are still waiting until fall to move into their new digs.
The official ground breaking for the Bow River Senior’s Lodge phase one of the This is Home project for Bow Valley Regional Housing was on June 19, 2015.
The 63-unit building now sits in an almost finished state, but, according to BVRH board chair Councillor Joanna McCallum, the deficiency correction stage of the construction cycle is taking much longer than anticipated.
In an update to Canmore council at its committee of the whole meeting this month, McCallum said deficiencies in construction were provided to the general contractor.
“The deficiency period with the current contractor is going on much longer than expected,” McCallum said. “There were 50 pages of deficiencies provided, so at this point, it looks like we will not be able to move residents into the lodge until September.”
The project is funded through the provincial government and the new facility is expected be handed over from the contractor to Alberta Seniors and Housing in fall and afterwards BVRH would take possession. McCallum said it would require an additional six to eight weeks for staff to train in the new building and for it to be fully commissioned before residents can move in.
This is Home phase one is part of BVRH’s overall mandate to provide housing for seniors in the community. It replaces 43 aging units in the current lodge and provides new and fully functional spaces for seniors living that would provide increased services, according to a report from BVRH.
The total cost of phase one is $13.2 million and McCallum indicated the project is within three per cent of its contingency budget, which is good news from a provincial perspective.
Phase two would replace the older facility seniors are currently living in with a higher level of care that doesn’t exist in the valley right now. The second phase would meet the need for designated supportive living and dementia operations, including enhanced safety and care provision.
The price tag for the second phase is between $16 million and $19 million, with a commitment from the province already of $16 million. Next steps for it include project approval and coordination, as well as creating an agreement with Alberta Health Services to provide the added level of care.
BVRH is a regional service commission that provides social housing and seniors housing in the community. It has the ability as a board to requisition property taxes from its member municipalities – Canmore, Banff and the MD of Bighorn.
“BVRH is responsible for the furniture and equipment for the (phase two) facility, which we will fund through a combination of fundraising and financing, including municipal requisition,” stated the report to council.
“It is expected that this development will improve our operating model to the point that we are able to achieve much greater economies of scale, thereby significantly reducing the need to requisition for operating costs at Bow River Lodge in the future.”
