Senior residents are left in the unknown as they watch construction of the Cold Lake Lodge face yet another delay.
“It’s frustrating, and I certainly feel for the residents who are living currently at the lodge. They’re frustrated. They’ve been sitting there for two and a half years looking at a construction zone and we still can’t give them a timeline,” said Lakeland Lodge and Housing Association chair Chris Vining.
For nearly two years seniors have been watching with anticipation as the new lodge was built from the ground up, but as the project moved along it faced numerous setbacks.
“There have been some delays in construction,” noted Vining, adding the latest is the interior doors, which have yet to arrive.
He continued, “We’ve had a couple of issues arising and we don’t have a timeline on (when they’re) getting remedied. One of the biggest issues, is we’re missing a bunch of doors for the building inside, so everything has kind of slowed down because there are some things that until we get the interior doors, we can’t do.”
Until the doors are installed, construction remains at a standstill.
According to Vining, things such as landscaping and piping have been completed, but there is some work inside that has yet to be finished, such as mechanical and the fire systems.
The general contractor on the project, Seko Construction, has yet to give the board, and future residents, a concrete completion date.
“As of right now, we’re 14 months behind the original delivery schedule. Everything’s going to be a little bit off (when it comes to construction schedules)… but we’re very past that. Our original completion was supposed to be September 2017, and we were delayed to November 2018, and we’re still not there… We were hoping to be in by the spring of last year, now we’re hoping maybe in the new year we will be able to get residents moved in,” Vining said.
Setbacks such as weather and mold are just the tip of the iceberg.
In fact, Vining described the project as “cursed” from the beginning.
“We’ve had issues right out of the gate,” he expressed.
Contractor issues, initial construction hitches, and Mother Nature are partially to blame.
Vining said the mold was caused by last year’s early snowfall, mixed with freeze and thaw cycles throughout the construction of the facility’s roof.
There were lots of issues in terms of moisture getting into the building,” he noted. “Of course when you have moisture in there and it starts to dry up you get mold issues.”
Since then, Vining has been assured the problem has been resolved.
“Everything is passing with flying colours, so I’m confident that was taken care of.”
The new lodge will have 61 rooms, an increase from the current facility’s 48. Construction is paid for by the Government of Alberta, so whether or not there will be a penalty on the contracting company for the delays isn’t up to the board.
The association continues to keep future and current residents of the Cold Lake Lodge updated, and understand their frustrations with the project.
“A lot of residents have moved into the lodge with the expectation that they would be in the new one by now… There are others who have been longtime residents who have been waiting on this too,” Vining detailed.
