NEWS BRIEFS BRITISH COLUMBIA Condos and tourist accommodations province's largest current construction projects Homes and hotels have become the leading drivers of BC construction industry activity, the Association of Consulting Engineering Companies British Columbia reports. The association says about half the value of the 20 largest projects, worth about $5.6 million, have been condo- miniums and tourist accommodation. Perhaps the largest current project is Concord Pacific’s $1 billion central condominium development on the north shore of Vancouver’s False Creek, with retail space, 90,000 sq. ft. of community amenities, an expanded casino, and 1,300 homes in eight tow- ers. Major resource and infrastructure projects are on the books, and if they were built now, would cause signifi- cant labour shortages, labour union leaders indicate. These include BC Hydro's $8.8 billion Site C dam and a proposed Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) project. Seismic upgrades under- way for Vancouver schools The Vancouver School Board says it will take several years and much money to successfully upgrade 69 schools to be able to withstand a major earthquake. CBC reports that 22 schools requir- ing upgrades are “about to proceed to construction” and the typical cost for improvements to an elementary school are $20 million. "We hope that we'll have our seis- mic upgrade done before the big one," VSB director of facilities Jim Meschino told the CBC. "When an earthquake will strike is anybody's guess. Our concern is, let's try and get as many done as we can." Education minister Peter Fassben- der has created a joint office with the school board, dedicated to the up- grades, CBC reported. "That would be the best thing we CONSTRUCTION ACROSS CANADA can do is to get more people working on these projects and to get more proj- ects happening at one time," Meschino said. ALBERTA Contractors of the Year recognized The province's Contractors of the Year were recognized at a recent Ed- monton gala. Kemway Contractors (2006) Ltd. won the award for general contractor under $50 million with PCL taking the over $250 million category in the event co-ordinated by Alberta Ventures Mag- azine and the Merit Contractors Asso- ciation. Other winners include: • Trade contractor under $15 million: EverLine Coatings and Services • Trade contractor over $15 million: Multh Electrical Management • Heavy civl contractor: Taurus Proj- ects Group • Construction Person of the Year: Brent Fillmore, president of Fil- more Construction. innovative approaches to urban devel- opment. Concord added that it is now ten- dering millions of dollars in construc- tion contracts in Calgary through the next 30 to 36 months of building, and that the development will create a new standard for innovative construction know-how. “As Calgary moves to becoming more urban-centric, the opportunities for great development here are as sig- nificant as they were in downtown Vancouver or Toronto two or three decades ago,” said Peter Webb, Con- cord's vice-president of development. “With location, international shop- ping, amenities, leisure infrastructure, natural beauty and a sophisticated market, Calgary has all the ingredients of becoming a great global city and Concord wants to play a leading role in helping the city grow while maintain- ing its strong sense of community and livability.” Despite the economy's downturn Major Calgary condo breaks ground despite oil price slump Concord Pacific broke ground in April on the first of two Calgary real es- tate developments – including a 14- storey condo development. The Concord, the company says in a news release, will together provide more than $1 billion in economic impact. Affirming its belief in the long-term Concord is optimistic about Calgary's long-term value, having been Canada's Western business hub for decades, and because of its young, well-edu- cated, and entrepreneurial population. SASKATCHEWAN Saskatchewan Hospital pre-construction commences value of the local real estate market, Concord said that the timing is right to build now because market conditions offer access to the best quality trades people, and because Calgary is an emerging global city embracing more 14 – April-May 2015 — The Canadian Design and Construction Report Pre-construction work has started on the Saskatchewan Hospital and in- tegrated correctional facility in North Battleford. “Heavy equipment has been arriv- ing on site,” says Battleford’s MLA Herb Cox. “The new complex will be built to LEED Silver certification stan-