Plans to begin site preparations for the new Campbell River Hospital project are on track with the first round of requests for proposals (RFPs) set to close in January.
Chief Project Officer Tom Sparrow says: “Preparation work at the existing Campbell River site is set to begin in June, 2013 including construction of temporary parking lot and decommissioning of a section of the Sunshine Wellness Centre to accommodate the temporary ambulance road access.”
The work to prepare the sites for eventual construction also includes survey work, tree removal, soil erosion prevention, a landscape interface zone and site fencing.
“Two specialized site trailers will be positioned on site to accommodate some of the day programs presently being delivered at the Sunshine Wellness Centre and provide a large project meeting room for all clinical teams associated with the project throughout the design and development stage of the project,” Sparrow says.
“This site preparation work will help the eventual builder of the hospitals hit the ground running. I look forward to seeing equipment at work on these sites.”
During the construction phase starting in early 2014 and extending to the spring of 2017 there will be between 250 and 400 workers on the site for the life of the project.
“The opportunities for all of the local trades people, suppliers, service companies, restaurants and hoteliers is going to be absolutely phenomenal,” Sparrow says.
“The first thing these construction companies look for is local trades, local service companies and local suppliers.
“They can’t access trades people in other parts of the country and bring them in because they are busy working too.
“Everyone’s busy. We want to work closely with the high schools, the college. We want to talk about apprenticeships programs and opportunities with the trades associations.”
An RFP for the actual construction and operation of the two hospitals will be issued early in 2013.
Sparrow says throughout 2013 public meetings will continue every two to three months “to share our progress with all communities associated with the
project.”
