Potential cost overruns of Vaughan civic centre resource library has some seeing red

YorkRegion.com
April 23, 2014
By Adam Martin-Robbins

The new resource library slated to be built on the campus where city hall sits could wind up costing nearly $14.3 million – $2 million more than originally expected.

And that has several council members concerned.

“There’s really no appetite, from what I can tell, to overspend,” Mayor Maurizio Bevilacqua told city staff and the architect at Wednesday’s committee of the whole working session. “If it’s going to be a $12-million building, then do the best you can with $12 million. Obviously, we understand that with an extra $2 million you can do more things, but … there seems to be no desire to spend more money than is required and so you ought to come back with something that speaks to a building that costs $12 million, as approved.”

Regional Councillor Michael Di Biase, meanwhile, raised concerns about the possibility of repeating what happened with city hall, which boasts a modern design and many environmentally sustainable features and wound up running $15.6 million over budget, with a final price tag of $122.6 million.

“City hall was a complicated design and because it was a complicated design we had some issues,” said Mr. Di Biase, who also sits on the Vaughan Public Library board. “This is a complicated design. It’s an elaborate building, it’s beautiful, it’s complicated and I’m not saying we’re going to have any issues, but we already have this over budget.”

Although the library board is responsible for making decisions about design and construction of libraries, city council controls the purse strings.

The original $12.3-million budget for the proposed 36,000-square-foot Civic Centre Resource Library was approved by council several years ago.

Since then, councillors decided to relocate the facility to the northwest corner, where Maple Manor used to sit, so that it would sit closer to Major Mackenzie Drive, just east of Keele Street.

That move drove up the price tag, city staff noted.

Construction costs have also gone up since the original budget was set and an external project manager had to be brought in to oversee things, city staff added.

And some of the features incorporated into the design of the state-of-the-art library are also pushing up the price.

The current design calls for an irregular shaped building, rendered largely in glass and reflective metal, with curved exterior walls and sloping rooflines.   

It also boasts a green roof, a cistern to collect rainwater for reuse, bike racks, skylights, sliding walls, a designated children’s area, an area for teenagers, an interior courtyard and a café.

The environmentally sustainable features were put in place to try to earn the coveted Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver rating, and possibly Gold.

Exactly how much the facility will end up costing has yet to be determined.

City staff expect to have a better idea once the construction firms competing to build the library have submitted their final bids.

“It is customary, especially in the type of market we have today, that the lowest bidder will come between five and 10 per cent below the cost estimate,” Michael Shatil, director of building and facilities, said. “Our up to $2 million estimate is based on the cost that the cost estimator has given us and therefore we consider it … a conservative estimate of the additional funding that is required.”

There may also be additional funds available to put toward the project – possibly as much as $400,000 —resulting from relocating the library to a smaller piece of land on the campus, which hasn’t been factored in to the cost, Commissioner of Finance John Henry pointed out.

But council members, ultimately, recommended city staff and the architect take another look at the proposed design to see if there are ways reduce construction costs to get closer to the original budget.

Peter Duckworth-Pilkington, principal with ZAS Architects, cautioned councillors while it may be possible to reduce construction costs that could result in higher operating costs for the library.

“Each site has its own unique characteristics, but there isn’t a lot of bells and whistles that are easily hived off,” he said. “We’re going to have to work with staff to make sure we’re delivering the real value. As everybody knows, sometimes you can save 10 cents and it ends up costing you a dollar over 10 years.”

Construction of the new library is expected to begin the summer of 2014 and be completed in about 18 months.