Redesign work for the Municipality of Argyle’s new administration building is ongoing and it’s expected a tender for the facility’s construction will be issued in January 2020, with construction starting in the spring of 2020.
The municipality expects to receive the final redesign for the building this month, after estimators have completed their work, said Alain Muise, the Municipality of Argyle’s chief administrative officer.
The building design and plan required significant change in order to meet the municipality’s budgetary limitations.
“We are still committed to the net-zero energy component of the building,” Muise said. “However, we have modified some of the equipment required to do so. Our successful Federation of Canadian Municipalities application has enabled a low-interest loan, as well as a grant of $452,115 to assist in offsetting the additional equipment costs to achieve net zero. We have also secured federal gas tax funding for this project.”
The building will be located in Tusket on Highway 308 and will replace the Municipality of Argyle’s existing administrative facility on Courthouse Road, also in Tusket.
The municipality expects to issue two tenders this fall, Muise said. One will be for the public road that will allow for access both to the new municipal building and to the back of the property for residential development. The other tender will be for moving and repurposing the house that is on the property. The plan is to use the house for storage.
The tender for the new admin building is expected to go out in January, with construction of the new facility getting underway next spring.
The project has not proceeded as quickly as first envisioned. Bids submitted for it last year were well over the $3.865-million budget Argyle council had approved earlier in 2018. This past spring, council increased the project’s budget to $4.215 million.
The current administration facility – initially built as a school – is about 70 years old and has been the Municipality of Argyle’s administrative home since 1976. There are a number of issues with it, including lack of wheelchair accessibility, numerous code violations, inefficient wiring, heat and lighting, lack of storage/office space and insufficient parking.
Three years ago – following a public consultation process that included an online survey and public meetings – the Municipality of Argyle announced it would build a new facility to house its administrative offices.
At first, the municipality was looking to construct its new building on land it owned, but in early 2017 Argyle council decided to see what other options were available.
A major section of the land where the new facility will be built was donated.
As for the existing building, the plan is to consider a sale of the facility, as it remains suitable for other purposes, CAO Muise said.
