Construction on Maxwell Park Place expected to start again this month

Heather Wright/The Independent

Lambton County will spend another $1.7 million to complete the long-delayed 24-unit seniors complex in Sarnia.

County council approved the move after a seven minute in-camera meeting Wednesday.

The 24-unit development at Maxwell Park Place was announced in March 2018, but has faced multiple construction delays. The county contracted BECC Construction to build the units at their factory and bring them to the site to be assembled on a concrete foundation. One of the delays was caused by problems with that foundation.

The project was delayed because of weather, supply chain issues and finding buried power and water lines which weren’t on the original plan.

Lambton County CAO Stephane Thiffeault says work should start up on the project in September. “We were in commercial negotiations with the replacement contractor and we expect construction to resume this month, and we expected the complex really to be completed by early 2025,” Thiffeault tells The Independent.

“This is a modular bid. All the modulars are ready to rock and roll…They’ve been built. They’ve been paid for. We’re bringing them on site, so it’s going from the foundation, stacking modulars and then completing the wrap and the connection to the current building and all the services as well.”

The $1.7 million approved by council during its in camera session designated to complete the build is due to the difference in the cost of construction from when the county first put the project out for tender in 2018. That pushes the cost of the 24-unit building to $8.7 million. It was originally expected to cost about $6.1 million with the federal and provincial governments contributing about $3 million to the project.

Thiffeault says the county is pursuing legal action against BECC Construction for the issues and will try to recover the additional costs its facing due to the construction issues.

Meantime, a report from the county shows there are now 886 people waiting for affordable housing in Lambton – a 20 per cent increase from last year – with 683 looking for an one-bedroom unit. The county says those people may wait four years to get into affordable housing.