Thunder Bay City Hall Will Make A Statement
by Scott A. Sumner
Our city hall is a 40 year old building and it was time to makes some changes according to our city council and staff. Although there were a few surprises along the way the new look city hall will be something of which all residents can be proud. Local contractor Tom Jones have been
working on the project steadily and should be complete in June.
“A major part of the project was taking down the existing pre cast on the building and then exposing the existing concrete block and concrete frame. No one knew exactly what we would find. A major reason behind the project was the pre cast was failing. It was ready to fall
off. The pre cast concrete had been fastened on the building with metal fasteners. Due to the moisture issues the building had the existing steel connections were rusting and falling so we had to take everything off the building and expose the structure behind,” said JR Williamson, Estimator & Project Manager at the Tom Jones Corporation since 2000.
“ What happened was the masonry block that was in the building was laid from the inside and they never toweled the inside so it left a messy picture we has to deal with. It looked like an unfinished building from the outside. They did it differently then we though they would have done it. It was quite a mess when we opened it up.”
“ The original project completion date was February 14th but as soon as we ran into the issue they changed the block from the original spec. They are also doing a lot of interior renovations now while there are no people in the building. That is the smart thing to do. The scope of
the work was a dramatic change.”said Williamson.
“ You try to be optimistic the job will go well and if you discover unforeseen things you have to take a different route. I think they also recognized it would be more cost effective to do the interior of the building changes while the building is vacated. A big expenditure was to take the people and equipment and relocate them around the city,” said John Jones of Tom Jones Corporation. “ This is an opportune time to do the renovations. There are also some new tenants gong into the first floor- another government agency that will pay rent to the city.”
“ Once the precast and the block was exposed, the mortar that was coming off or missing was chipped off or repaired. Any holes were sealed and a vapor barrier was put on along with spray foam insulation and flashing. There is an additional of a curtain wall of glass on the entrance of the building,” said Williamson. “ There are a lot of details you have to work on and have to be perfect to look right. We are modernizing the interior with new paint and flooring.
Some of the offices that weren’t too efficient have been reworked making things flow better. We are updating some HVAC systems and lighting. The total work will be about $5 to 5.4 million. They are still not sure what they will do on the landscaping yet. It is a moving target. They have many ideas but not sure yet. The landscaping has an allocation of $ 600,000.”
“ David Bishop is the Site superintendent and one of our senior people of some 30years experiment. You can’t subsidize for experience,” stated John Jones. “ I think the city hall should make a statement. The mayor will have a place she can display and bring people who will be
comfortable to meet there. You are meeting with contingents from all over the world and this building will put us on the map. The curved glass at the front will make an interesting building out of a boring rectangular. Fred Wood, architect did a great job with the circular look curtain wall. The interior will has a lot of wood accents as a big feature. Wood is good, very good. We should be substantually complete in June. The project is looking good.”
“ I really enjoy the work. Every day is different, which is fantastic. No two projects are the same and you are always dealing with different people. Everyone is in it for the same reason, to get the job done. Everyone gets along very well with the subtrades. You have to because you will work together again tomorrow.” said JR Williamson.
Environment Canada New Facilities in the Innova Business Park
Tom Jones Corporation recently completed work on a cold storage building, a snowmobile storge facility for Environment Canada on their new facilities in the Innova Business Park. They are working for Brunos Contracting doing the foundations for both buildings and the complete
Environment Canada cold storage building.
Fort Frances Abitibi Bowater Bio Mass Project
At the Fort Frances Abitibi Bowater plant Tom Jones Corporation worked on the Bio Mass project there. Their work included all the civil components including the earth work, piling, foundations and all the concrete work. It is virtually finished and Tom Jones has been at it
for 2 years with a total construction value of $80 million plus. The company have been at work in that mill many years.
