Duane Hicks
The demolition of the vacant Huffman School will begin June 16 as the town moves forward with plans to develop a new subdivision in the east end.
Operations and Facilities manager Doug Brown said the school will be down by July 1.
The work is being done by Wagner Construction Canada ULC, which also will be doing several other jobs around town.
Starting June 17, they will replace six valves and hydrants throughout the town.
After the demolition of Huffman School, Wagner will rebuild Williams Avenue between Third and Fifth Street East, and then construct Huffman Drive—the new cul-de-sac for the subdivision.
All of this work will be done by the first week in October.
A second project—the reconstruction of Second Street East between Mowat Avenue and Central Avenue, followed by Mowat Avenue between Second and Third Street East—is set to begin July 2, with a completion date of Sept. 13.
It originally was supposed to start May 22 but has been delayed for two reasons, said Brown.
“With all the rain that we’ve had, we’ve had higher-than-normal flow rates through the sanitary sewer system, which will be the first piece of pipe that we will replace,” he explained.
“We thought we’d let everything slow down a bit,” he noted.
Brown also said the road in question is a major traffic artery, so waiting until after school is out will mean less traffic will be disrupted by the construction.
Back in February, council awarded this job to Makkinga Contracting at a cost of $1.28 million.
The work will include upgrades to 277 metres of roadway infrastructure on Second Street East (between Mowat and Central) and Mowat Avenue (between Second Street and Third Street East).
It also will include replacement and upgrades to 158 metres of the storm sewer system, as well as the replacement of 293 metres of watermains and other pertinent water infrastructure
Some 285 metres of sanitary sewer lines and other pertinent sewer system infrastructure also will be replacement.
In other news, council voted in favour of amending a zoning bylaw, which will allow the Fort Frances Native Urban Wahkaihganun Corp. to build a new six-unit apartment complex on York Avenue.
To ensure the construction does not adversely affect adjacent properties, a drainage plan will have to be submitted as part of the building process.
Construction is expected start this summer, with new tenants occupying the six-unit complex as early as late fall.
Also at last night’s meeting, council received a presentation from the Fort Frances Traffic Safety Group regarding the “Kiss ’n Ride” safety program.
Council supported the initiative in principle.
