Journal she is confident the project can still work, but it will depend on a successful fundraising campaign and securing provincial and federal govern- ment contributions. “It’s a very complicated project,” she said. “It is absolutely unique in that it is being designed specifically for artists. The acoustics are heightened, the ventilation is heightened, the space is designed as open space that is adaptable for individual uses.” The proposed downtown project site at the corner of 102A Ave. and 96th St., on the former Mount Royal Hotel site, is vacant except for the old Koermann Block building, dating back to 1913. The project calls for the his- toric brick facades on the north and east sides of the building to be dis- mantled and reassembled as part of the new structure. Medicine Hat: Construction projections ‘too rosy,’ says developer A Medicine Hat developer says a federal housing report predicting min- imal growth this year in the southeast- ern Alberta community’s construction sector is too rosy. “I think 2016 will be one of the most difficult years ever in Alberta,” said Don Sandford, vice president of Lans- downe Equity Ventures. The Canadian Mortgage and Hous- ing Corporation’s (CMHC) fourth quar- ter new housing update, released in early December, states low oil prices will hamper residential building in Al- berta and Saskatchewan until eco- nomic conditions improve in 2017. Resale conditions will also favour the buyer but prices should gradually in- crease in step with the oil price, the Medicine Hat News reports. Locally, detached home construc- tion is forecast to end the year with 170 starts in Medicine Hat and nearby communities, representing a 13.3 per cent decline from 2014. However, CMHC says that figure should increase to 175 homes in 2016, then 180 in 2017 – about a three per cent rise each year. Sandford said the prediction is much too optimistic considering lot sales in 2015, as well as the fact there are about 55 recently built homes as yet unsold in the area right now. “Typically there would be about 30 in a normally functioning economy,” said Sandford. “There are indications that the economic conditions are get- ting worse.” SASKATCHEWAN PPP for 18 new schools will save taxpayers $100 million, government says The provincial government says a public-private partnership (PPP) to con- struct 18 new schools will save taxpay- ers $100 million and deliver them earlier than if they were constructed the traditional way. Gordon Wyant, the minister respon- sible for SaskBuilds, said in December that the project is the “largest publicly owned and operated school project in Saskatchewan’s history,” and that the schools are needed to accommodate “unprecedented” population growth. The province has selected the Joint- Use Mutual Partnership (JUMP) as its PPP partner. Members are: • Concert Infrastructure Ltd. (British Columbia); • Bird Capital Limited Partnerships/Bird DesignBuild Construction Inc. (Ontario); • Wright Construction Western Inc. (Saskatoon); • Kindrachuck Agrey Architecture (Saskatoon); • Johnson Controls Canada LP (United States, with Canadian of- fices); and • GEC Architecture (Alberta). Accounting firm KPMG reported in a value for money assessment that the PPP model will save about $100 mil- lion and allow the schools to open six to nine years earlier. “When the schools open in Sep- tember of 2017, it will be a breath of fresh air and will cause some relief on the pressure on classroom sizes and enrollment in those neighbourhoods,” Saskatoon Public Schools board chair Ray Morrison said. Eight schools will be constructed at four sites in Stonebridge, Rosewood, Evergreen and Hampton Village. Catholic school board chair Diane Boyko says the new schools will take overcrowding pressure off schools like St. Peters, which also borders Hamp- ton Village. Wyant said making construction and maintenance the responsibility of the PPP partners takes the province off the hook for risks associated with un- planned maintenance and construc- tion costs. “These schools will not only be built in a quicker period of time, they will be maintained by the proponent team over a 30-year period,” he said. Saskatchewan bypass construction underway Construction is now underway on the first Saskatchewan public-private partnership (PPP) transportation proj- ect. Work has started on the White City overpass, a major part of the Regina Bypass. The link will connect Highway 48 to Highway 1 at White City and will be completed in 2017. SaskLink Global Transportation Part- ners won the bypass project contract in 2015. The overall Regina Bypass will have 12 overpasses, including White City, Balgonie and the Pilot Butte access. Initial work on the White City over- pass will focus on the foundation for the pier that will be built in the High- way 1 median to support the bridge deck. Work on grading the bridge abut- ments is expected to begin soon in the new year. The Canadian Design and Construction Report — January 2016 – 25