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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Following a series of tendering hiccups, federal government workers are finally moving into the new Gallery building on the corner of Franklin Avenue and 52 Street.

The new Gallery Building, located on the corner of Franklin Avenue and 52 Street, is now complete and Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada employees are moving in, from the Bellanca and Precambrian buildings. - Thandiwe Vela/NNSL photo

The Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada workers are leaving the Bellanca Building - also downtown - empty, after more than 30 years of federal government tenancy.

They were scheduled to merge in the new five-storey Gallery Building with Aboriginal Affairs workers from the Precambrian Building in mid-February, but the move was delayed by several weeks due to a number of tendering issues to do with the move and furnishings.

"There were two specific delays related to tendering," said Susan Craig, corporate services director for the government department. "We were expecting everyone to be moved in by mid-February. We started moving in here on May 5, and the plan now is to have everyone here, and open to the public, on May 28."

Construction on the $20-million dollar Gallery Building, which started in late 2010, was completed earlier this year, and the workers were poised to move in as the government lease of the Bellanca Building expired.

Although construction was complete, responses to a tender request for furniture and cubicles within the building were deemed non-responsive after being run twice by the federal department of Public Works and Government Services, forcing the department to delay the move.

"The people that bid did not respond to all or parts of the tender, so we weren't able to accept any of the bids," Craig said.

After a third tender, the furnishing contract went to an Edmonton-based office supplies company, which contracted Yellowknife-based Empire North Inc. to do the installations.

The second problematic tendering delay for Public Works, was scheduling a mover to make the move from the Bellanca Building to the Gallery building - a tender which no one put in bids for.

Empire North eventually won that contract to manage the move from Bellanca to Gallery.

The moving cost was $200,000, which also includes the decommissioning of the Precambrian offices and the vacated Bellanca Building, Craig said.

The decommissioning of the Bellanca Building, which has a Government of Canada logo at the top, is the responsibility of the landlord, Dundee Real Estate Investment Trust subsidiary Bellanca Development Ltd.

The federal government's log is expected to come down.

The federal logo will not go up on the Gallery Building, even though it has 100 per cent federal government tenancy, because the government is only leasing the space, Craig said.

About 190 Aboriginal Affairs workers will be in the new building, which has a capacity for 260 people.

About half the workers have already settled into the new building and, so far, feedback has been positive, particularly about more space, better lighting, and new office equipment, Craig said.

"It's a new space that people are really excited to move into, it's fresh," she said, adding "there's definitely memories that people are leaving behind (at Bellanca), but the feedback from staff has all been positive."

It is not yet known whether new tenants will be moving into the Bellanca building.

Calls to Bellanca Developments were not returned as of Wednesday afternoon.

A grand opening for the new Gallery Building has been scheduled by the owners for June 14, by invitation.

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