By Leslie Sanders
North Bay has seen some major construction projects begin in the last year, the majority supported by the province’s SuperBuild program.
The Near North Correctional and Treatment Centre will receive $1.5 million in SuperBuild funding for the new construction and modification work at the North Bay Psychiatric Hospital. New construction will include a 192-bed housing centre for men. The project involves the expansion, retrofits and building of new jails and is part of the province’s overall plan to introduce standard and performance benchmarks to Ontario’s correctional system.
The price tag on the new centre is $25 million. Of this, $23.5 million is coming from other provincial funding and $1.5 million from the SuperBuild project.
“The new facility is going through the preliminary site-preparation stages, but should go to tender later this year,” Arnold Cline, spokesperson for the North Bay Plan Room, says.
Nipissing University will add 6,500 square metres to its academic space. The new addition will address the current space shortage and allow for enrolment expansion.
The North Bay General Hospital is undergoing a restructuring process. The total cost of the restructuring is estimated at $90,259,200.
“Along with the big construction projects, there have been some smaller ones developed over the past year,” Cline says.
The East Home Long-Term Care Facility completed a 96-bed addition and renovation.
A condominium complex is in the rezoning stages. The complex will be a multi-level 70-unit structure on Oak St. West.
Cline says a confident economy that does not rely on one industry has enabled new projects to take flight.
