With news earlier this month that renovations at the Rainy River District Social Services Administration Board’s new offices at 450 Scott St. are over budget, the Chief Building Official for Fort Frances made it clear that’s not due to any recommendations he’s made.
In a report to town council Monday night, Rick Hallam explained that, contrary to some feedback he’s gotten from the DSSAB, he only ever made requests for minor changes to building plans and that the plans—as initially submitted to him—have been over budget from the start.
Hallam’s first contact with project architect Chris Daly of MMP Architects was on Sept. 20 via e-mail, at which time he given basic information regarding the scope of the project (hereafter called a code matrix).
On Oct. 16, Hallam then received the first submission of drawings, as well as the application for a building permit.
On Oct. 27, a building permit was issued.
Hallam added that at this point, the code matrix and building drawings still needed to be corrected, but he did not want to stand in the way of the demolition or construction getting started.
Hallam stressed the initial designs and development drawings for the project were made available to DSSAB administration in late June or early July—much longer before he saw them.
And at that time, Daly made the board aware the “the building was a Cadillac”—meaning that, as it was designed, it would not fall into the $770,000 budget but instead most likely would come in at $1.2-1.3 million.
While Daly had suggested cost savings, such as replacing the full-size elevator with a lift, or eliminating the stucco and brick facade, DSSAB administrator Donna Dittaro insisted on keeping it.
Hallam noted other factors driving up the cost of the project included the removal and replacement of interior walls and a new heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning system.
Hallam also said the more expensive aspects of the project were no secret, and in fact a call for proposals for a project manager in early August outlined the project would involve “interior renovation work to meet the owner’s program needs,” such as a new elevator, new facade, and more.
This was well over a month before his first contact with the project architect on Sept. 20.
“I had no involvement in the design of the building. I only received the drawings after the design had been accepted by DSSAB administration,” said Hallam.
“For anyone to suggest the Chief Building Official of the Town of Fort Frances drove the costs of the building up is not only an unfair statement but incorrect,” he stressed.
“The owner’s program needs drove that train,” Hallam added. “Whether it was the board of directors of DSSAB or the administration of DSSAB that drove that train is not for me to answer.”
Coun. Tannis Drysdale, the town’s rep on DSSAB, said Monday night that after reviewing the building committee’s minutes at the November DSSAB meeting, it became evident to her that Hallam was being blamed as the one who ordered the removal and replacement of interior walls in the building—driving up the cost of the renovations.
But she noted that, as Hallam explained, this simply isn’t true as he only requested minor alterations to the plans. The plans from DSSAB always showed the removal and replacement of interior walls.
Coun. Drysdale noted to council that DSSAB has been cutting back on its plans and no longer is as much over-budget as it used to be, and has reduced the projected costs from $1.3 million to $1,071,000 at this point.
Correction
In was incorrectly reported in last week’s Times that in a report from Fort Frances CBO Rick Hallam, it was stated that architect Chris Daly had reported to the Rainy River District Social Services Administration Board in July that the plans for the building renovations at 450 Scott St. likely would cost around $1.2-$1.3 million.
In fact, Daly made this report only to DSSAB CEO Donna Dittaro at that time, not the DSSAB board.
The Times regrets any inconvenience or confusion this error may have caused.
