Duane Hicks
The town is reviewing which contractor will demolish the vacant Rainy Lake Hotel, with council expected to award the contract Monday.
Three companies submitted bids last week in response to a recent call for tenders.
Bidders, and the amount they bid, included:
•JMX Contracting of Gormley, Ont.—$663,423;
•Rakowski Cartage & Wrecking of Winnipeg—$1,102,241.50; and
•George Armstrong Co. Ltd. of Fort Frances—$1,869,924.
All bids include taxes.
Chief Building Official Travis Rob said the Planning and Development executive committee will make a recommendation for a chosen contractor to council at its Sept. 14 meeting.
Rob noted once council awards the contract, the demolition process will proceed.
He will go to the chosen contractor, get a work schedule from them, and schedule pre-construction meetings with Scott Street property owners and other pertinent parties.
“We want to get rolling as soon as possible,” said Rob, adding the plan is to have the 200 block of Scott Street fully open by Nov. 15, with final completion of the demolition by Dec. 1.
Rob clarified that the tender is for demolition only and not to re-develop the land into a market square, which will be a separate tender.
“Their role in this is to demolish the building,” he noted.
“There is some servicing work, sewer and water work, that has to be done as part of the demolition and they’re going to be doing that.
“At the end of it, when this contract is done, that will be a gravel lot,” added Rob.
“From there we build.”
