City council gave the green light to the first phase to renovate and repair the Colosseum, in spite of tenders coming in higher than the original estimate, at a special council meeting on Monday evening.

Council had originally set the budget for the first phase at $1.599 million, according to estimates provided by their consultant engineer Terry Bearden. The lowest bid, a combination of two contractors, put the total at $1.777 million.

After going back to consult with the contractors, city officials feel they can make reductions of $131,500, to bring the total down to $1.645 million, about $48,000 over the original estimate.

"We had anticipated we would be at $1.5 million or even lower," said Coun. Ray Hamm, chair of the city's facilities committee. "However we were somewhat surprised when tenders came in considerably higher when we opened the bids."

The high bid prices were almost the breaking point for the Colosseum project, as councillors wondered if the same kind of overrun will occur for the subsequent three phases to complete the project.

In the end, Coun. Dick Michel amended the motion to proceed to read that the city will repay borrowing for the project up to the budgeted amount of $1.599 million, and any cost over that will come out of reserves. This amended motion passed by a 5-2 vote, allowing the work to proceed immediately.

Hamm noted there were some additions and changes made to what would be included in the first phase, including provision for a skate sharpening and first aid room a second floor to the mechanical room and more space for the new compressor room.

The main part of the renovation work will be to remove and replace the concrete slab floor, and refurbish and relocate the ice plant, with replacement of the compressors with a larger more efficient unit.

But even with the changes to the plan, the bids were more than could be accounted for by the plans, said Hamm, and few savings would be had from tinkering with the design.

"We talked about reducing the size of the compressor room, but we came to the conclusion very little money would be saved by doing that," said Hamm, adding they could also look at not doing the mechanical room at all and just doing the concrete slab floor.

"However in doing so, we would change the concept entirely and would have to retender and have more delays. We do have some time constraints still," said Hamm, noting some work is needed to be done before the Saskatchewan Oil and Gas Show in early June.

Some of the money that will come from the federal government in the form of rebating the GST is dependent on the city making changes and improvements that will actually save the city in energy costs.

"If phase one is going to be out of whack, what's going to happen to phases 2, 3 and 4? You're going to be putting a lot of money into an old building," said Coun. Michel.

Coun. Rob Stephanson echoed his concern, pointing out if these costs escalate, a lot of people will ask why city doesn't just go ahead and build a new facility. He asked which changes are necessary as "the bare minimum" to keep the Colosseum open and operational.

Coun. Bill Rudachyk said many possibilities were talked about for cutting items, but there are concerns that Occupational Health and Safety deficiencies might not be dealt with, such as what Colosseum workers currently face in some of the working areas.

In the end, looking at each aspect of the project, Stephanson felt that this project will include those things that are necessary to keep the building operational. He did add a concern why the winning company for the concrete floor was so much lower than any other company, and said that part of the project would have to be watched to ensure the cost stayed at the bid amount.

The winning bid for the floor was from BrySand for $543,507, compared to the next lowest bid of $653,000 from Hipperson. The final bid that city is going with is a combination of these two companies.

Mulhall said he had some talks with BrySand about their bid, and was told they have a lot of experience with this type of work. Mulhall noted the company will be posting a bid and performance bond to ensure that the work will be done.

A suggestion was made to cut the second floor of the mechanical room, but Coun. Hamm answered, "My preference would be to cut the entire mechanical room project, including the second floor; that way the integrity of it would be preserved. However if we do that we've have to do something to address the code violations we have that room currently."

There was also discussion about the built-in contingency amount of $80,000, which provides for any unforeseen needs that come up in the course of construction.

Mulhall said based on talks they have had with various contractors, a five-per-cent contingency is an absolute must for any project, and is a reasonable number to have available.

Coun. Hamm also pointed out that agreeing to go with the first phase does not commit the city to proceeding with the remaining three phases.

There was some question also whether the city would jeopardize getting the 2005 Royal Bank Cup, the national Junior A hockey championship, if not all of the project was done, and Coun. Rudachyk said the other phases will not affect this situation.

He also noted many of these improvements have been talked about for a number of years, some since the 1980s when he was formerly on council.

With the passing of the tender, work will begin this week on the west addition to the Colosseum, including a new overhead door providing new access into the Colosseum. The main part of the project will wait until after the Saskatchewan Oil and Gas Show in early June. It is estimated all of the work should be done by the end of August to allow for the new season to start up in early September, said Mulhall.