Yellowknife (Apr 18/05) - The territorial government is betting $1 million that it can build a new courthouse in Yellowknife for $40 million.

It's probably a safe bet, even though it is a blue-sky guess as to what it might cost to place a 5,300-square-metre building on a rocky promontory next to the legislature.

Timeline Conceptual plans: October 2005. Design, development: April 2006. Site preparation tender: spring 2007. Building construction: autumn 2007. Completion: 2010.

"They should be able to do it," said Yellowknife architect Wayne Guy. "They probably padded the price a little after their experience with the jail."

The government budgeted $35 million for the North Slave Regional Correctional Centre and young offender facility. The final cost of the project was $50 million.

The cost over-run was caused by a fragmented design process and higher-than-expected prices for labour and steel, according to Bruce Rattray, deputy minister of Public Works, Supply and Services.

"It was a fast-track project with a target date that didn't allow us to complete all the design work and go out to tender. That made it difficult to manage the overall price," Rattray said.

$1 million for site survey, drawings

"This project won't have that problem," the deputy minister said.

"It will go through a normal tender and award process. Our instructions are much more normal."

The government has budgeted $1 million for a site survey and preliminary drawings for the building.

The request for proposal will go out in June. The public can expect to see a working drawing of the building some time next year. Construction is to start in 2007.

Building a new courthouse was presented as the least costly of three options explored by Public Works.

The others were a 20-year lease for $55 million or $61 million to lease-to-own after 20 years.

Lease renewal

Justice minister Brendan Bell said the lease on the current courthouse is coming up for renewal, forcing the government to act on reports that found the present facilities lacking on several fronts.

"We either pour millions into renting a space that is deficient on safety issues, isn't wired for the Internet and doesn't have enough courtroom space, or go out and build something that has what we need," Bell said.

The government has rented the present territorial courthouse space since Polar Panda Developments answered a request for proposal and put up the building in 1978.

Current rent is $959,000 a year for 5,569 square metres spread over six floors, plus operation and maintenance costs.

Kevin Menicoche, MLA for Nahendeh, said his constituents agree on the need for a new territorial courthouse, "but not today."

"There are other infrastructure deficits in our communities that should be addressed," he said.

He listed the restoration of Deh Cho Hall in Fort Simpson, a $15 million project, and a gymnasium for Nahanni Butte as being more important.

"There's one source of funding and that is delaying construction of the courthouse."

When 43 judges, law clerks and sheriffs move to the new courthouse in 2010, 53.5 justice department administrators will stay behind on the top three floors of the old building.

By comparison, workers in the new federal building on Franklin Avenue may feel crowded, with 200 people expected to share 7,000 square metres on four floors.

So far, the federal government has spent $21 million on land and construction of their building.

Even if the total cost of the federal building reaches $40 million, it will be a bargain compared to the proposed courthouse, which will weigh in at $7,500 a square metre.

Schools and office space typically cost around $2,500 a square metre in Yellowknife, according to construction and property management experts.

Wayne Guy said "special use" buildings like the courthouse typically cost more than utilitarian structures with relatively short life spans.

The new courthouse is expected to meet the territories' needs for the next 40 yearsand special security and safety requirements will also add to the building costs, Guy said.

When the courthouse project was presented to the legislature earlier this year, then justice minister Charles Dent defended the cost estimate. He told critics the government is not building "a monument."

Nevertheless, the new courthouse "will be a significant building," according to Rattray.

"It's a third pillar of government, so we're going to be concerned about the appearance. It has to fit in with the legislative site," the deputy minister said.

"So far, we haven't drawn a line - we don't know if it will be a single storey, or two storeys, a split-level or how it will sit on the site."

The government has set $40 million as the price ceiling so, "it may mean that we wind up making a smaller building if prices go up dramatically over the next few years," he said.

Space may be overestimated

"We may have overestimated the amount of space that's required," Rattray explained.

"All of this gets dealt with as you work through the project and get more and more certainty as to what it is you're going to build."

But the building can only be squeezed so far.

"The dollars we have are adequate for the space requirement. It's not overly generous. It's going to be a challenge for designers to see that we get maximum value," Rattray said.