THEBACHA/FORT SMITH - The Fort Smith Health Centre renovation is entering its sixth month and is being touted by the territorial government as an example of how negotiated contracts with the GNWT can help create opportunities for businesses in NWT communities.

Demolition has started as part of the Fort Smith Health Centre's renovations. Pictured here, the west wing is ready for a retro-fit. The renovations are the first negotiated contract in Fort Smith, designed to give local construction companies experience for future large contracts. - photo courtesy of Maurice Evans, Department of Public Works

Fort Smith's CAB Construction won the nearly $23 million contract in the summer of 2010 through a proposal stating how, if hired, it would benefit both the community's construction industry and other businesses around town.

"So far CAB is meeting the objective to maximize local involvement and providing apprenticeship opportunities," said Maurice Evans, the regional superintendent of Public Works for the South Slave. "This is a larger project for CAB to take on. Most supplies are coming from local and Northern suppliers."

The project is the second-largest contract approved by the GNWT since the negotiated-contract policy came into effect in September 2007. Twenty-five of the 32 on-site crew members come from Fort Smith, nine of whom are training as apprentices. Five more workers are from the North and the remaining two come from the south.

Aside from workers, 23 Fort Smith and Northern businesses have supplied materials, supplies or services ranging from accommodations to supplying gravel and equipment to printing and office supplies.

"It will provide stable employment for the crew. It will also offer apprentice opportunities for tradesmen starting out, providing much needed skilled people in the construction field for the future," said Janie Hobart, mayor of Fort Smith. "When workers have steady employment, they spend money in the community which further enhances the economic benefit to Fort Smith."

The renovation is the first negotiated contract for the town. The largest project in the NWT was the $27.8 million contract for Ecole St. Joseph in Yellowknife, with other projects ranging from building new community centres and airport terminals, road operations, maintenance, and construction and labour for housing construction.

In the summer of 2010, some controversy surrounded the hospital renovation contract. The Salt River First Nation demanded the contract be put out to tender so all local companies would have equal chance to submit proposals.

The health centre renovations started in October 2010 and will continue until February or March 2013. The hospital has and will remain operational during the construction. Administration, finance and physiotherapy have moved off-site during the renovations, while the remaining staff will shuffle to different wings as the renovations are complete.

"Change is always difficult and we're trying to keep the centre running as effectively as possible," said Rob Tordiff, CEO of the health centre. "We've had to relocate some sites off site and there has been some noise with the construction."

So far the renovations have included the demolition of the kitchens in the basement and the start of demolition in the west wing. All the mechanical and electrical will be replaced in the 30-year-old building, and the air handling system will be upgraded to keep infectious diseases in check. A new ambulance bay will be put in and the exterior shingles will be replaced.

Tordiff hopes the new interior design will help with the integrated service delivery model which will create a single point of access for health services in Fort Smith. The overall goal is to improve health services in Fort Smith, said Tordiff.

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