County Looking To Save Admin Build Amid Shifting Sands

Jeff Green | May 31, 2023

The reconstruction project of the Frontenac County administrative building on the Frontenac County Campus in Glenburnie has been a balancing act from the start.

The county offices are located in a grand early Ontario Home, formerly called Fair House but now known more commonly as “the Old House” in county circles. While it is an elegant setting, the amount of space devoted to hallways and a staircase that would be appropriate on the set of Gone with the Wind, made it unsuitable for the county's needs now and into the future.

In addition to converting the space for county admin use, the project includes the construction of new facilities for a tenant, the Cataraqui Conservation Authority, as well as a new council chamber for both organizations, and space for offices for Frontenac Paramedic Services.

The project has faced some unexpected hurdles, the most notable being the extent of asbestos abatement that has been necessary.

“We understood that the amount of asbestos in the walls of the building was limited, but it turned out there was asbestos in just about every wall,” said County Chief Administrative Officer Kelly Pender at a meeting on April 26, “and the cost of abatement ended up reaching $195,000.”

But the asbestos issue, it turned out, was only a precursor to a more expensive surprise that has led to delays and a further budget over-run. It has also led to a discussion about whether all of the project’s goals will be accomplished.

Council was faced with a decision about whether to continue digging a hole at the south end of the Old House which was supposed to be the foundation for a 1,500 square foot training centre for Frontenac Paramedic Services personnel.

The geo-technical study which was done prior to digging indicated that bedrock would be reached about metre below grade, but according to CAO Pender the test hole that was drilled must have hit a large rock at that level, because when the entire hole was being dug the contractors went past a metre, and then past two metres, and finally halted digging at about the 2.5 metre mark.

The hole abuts an existing part of the complex, which includes not only the Old House but a previous addition joining Old House and Fairmount Home, the county owned long term care facility.

Concerns about impacts to the existing building and the unknown costs of continuing to dig, led council to make their first decision on April 26, to abandon the hole.

A proposal to not only back fill the hole but also attempt to put in a foundation on grade was also rejected by Council at that meeting.

The discussion then focused on another addition that is being built as part of the project, this one to the east of the Old House, in the direction of Battersea Road. That addition will house a council chamber on the second floor, and if a third floor was constructed above the council chamber it would create the necessary space for the training centre. The initial cost, to make an extra floor possible, is 25,000 for steel reinforcement above the chamber.

But the entire cost of the new floor would add a further $340,000 to the project.

With the project already $610,000 over budget, this change would put it very close to $1million over, and delay completion until April of 2024 from the current target of December 2023. The original budget for the project was $4.5million, with completion in the fall of 2023.

Both Warden Vandewal and Deputy Warden Frances Smith supported the idea of the third floor.

“We know that construction costs always go up if you wait,” said Smith, “so it is false savings to try and save money now only to have to spend more later.”

Kelly Pender said that the training centre could be only a temporary use for the space.

“In 2025, when council will be considering a new ambulance station elsewhere on the property, a training centre may be part of that project. We built the training centre into this project because we need one now, but also because have no room to accommodate any growth in county staffing with what we are building, and this builds in some potential space for offices that will be required in time,” he said.

There was still a question mark with this new scenario, however, since the hole had not yet been dug for this part of the new build at the time of the meeting Council decided to invest $25,000 in the steel to make the third story an option, and then wait to see if the sink hole scenario is repeated at this location of the property before making a final decision on adding an extra floor above the council chamber.

That information is now available, and for once, the news is positive.

“The contractor and engineer have determined that the east addition can proceed. We found bed rock,” said Pender in an email to the Frontenac News this week. “The roof of the east addition will be upgraded to accommodate a third floor. A decision regarding the timing of the third floor will be made at a later date. The budget will be revisited once a decision is made regarding the third floor.”