East Gwillimbury severs deal with contractor after lengthy delays

YorkRegion.com
March 20, 2017
Simon Martin

If you think a construction on the new Civic Centre Entrance in East Gwillimbury has dragged on a little long, you are right.  Back when the project broke ground at the beginning of August, the town estimated the entrance would be ready in October.

Something clearly went amiss as the project still isn’t completed.  The town ended the construction contract with Forest Ridge Landscaping earlier this year due to insufficient progress, Director of Parks and Recreation Aaron Karmazyn said. The town is co-ordinating trades to complete the project.  It is too early to tell if the project will be over budget. According to Karmazyn, a budget and project update will be provided to council once the trades and projected costs are finalized.

Forest Ridge Landscaping won the tender for the project with a bid of $289,707.66. The next closest bid was from CSL Group for $441,768.85.

The Civic Centre green courtyard and accessibility entrance involves the redesign of the south entrance of the Civic Centre.

The proposed redesign includes improved accessibility parking and building access as well as outdoor public gathering and meeting space such as benches, accessibility seating and courtyard space with natural plantings. The project is in partnership with the Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority. The site will be used for environmental education and feature industry leading techniques to use and manage storm water.

Mayor Virginia Hackson said the project will provide a much-needed update to the Civic Centre.

“It’s going to provide a new accessible entrance for the facility. We have accessible entrances at the front and the back, but this is going to be a much higher standard,” she said.

Some of the innovative features include the reduction, collection and diversion of rainwater run-off and bio-swales to improve water filtration.

Other features include seating made from recycled materials, permeable paving to slow run-off rates and decorative planting areas featuring an emphasis on the use of native and indigenous plants.

“It’s going to be cutting edge,” Hackson said. “It’s going to provide a model that other municipalities can use if they want to talk about low-impact development.”