TORONTO – Toronto’s city council is being asked to add an additional $15 million for the redevelopment of St. Lawrence Market’s north building.
The original budget of $74.89 million will rise to approximately $91.46 million if the budget is approved.
A 2008 competition completed chose a design by Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners in association with Adamson Associates Architects from Toronto.
The building is located on the north west corner of Front Street across from the iconic St. Lawrence Market and was built as a temporary structure in 1967.
And five years after the design competition was completed, no progress has been made.
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In fact, the designers were forced to submit an adjusted plan.
The new plan includes fewer floors than the original, a modification to a proposed green roof on the building and targets a lower level of sustainability.
Crews have found however that they will have to dig into bedrock to make room for parking space, making the entire project slightly more difficult.
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And discussions between city bureaucrats and designers have come up with, what Councillor Pam McConnell says, will be the final number.
“Our staff have done a tremendous job pairing it down to the right financials and we believe that this final number is the number we need to proceed with,” McConnell said.
But she admits the changing cost is “frustrating.”
“It’s always frustrating, but you know what, you put these designs out to public competition, you tell them how much you’ve got to spend and inevitably they come up with a design that fabulous, and it just needs a little more, a little more, a little more, a little more,” she said.
McConnell said city council will review the matter in July and construction could begin in 2014. She didn’t give a specific date when the building is not expected to be completed by the 2015 Pan Am games.
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