City plans legal action after reopening of St. James Civic Centre delayed

WINNIPEG -

New details have emerged on when the St. James Civic Centre is expected to reopen and what’s behind the delay.

The revelation was part of a verbal report on Monday to the city’s Finance Committee.

Geoff Patton, the city’s director of assets and project management, said the delay is due to the release of silica dust during work in the crawl space which happened twice, resulting in a work stoppage and damage to equipment.

He said the contractor is being charged $2,000 a day as a result, and the city plans to pursue further damages in court.

“We'll work with external legal counsel to pursue all the potential damages, including potential loss of revenue to the City of Winnipeg,” Patton told the committee.

Meanwhile, the city said Monday it is also waiting on the province to provide a funding agreement for an expansion of the civic centre.

City of Winnipeg Chief Financial Officer Catherine Kloepfer said she made a request for the agreement but has been told it will be several more months before it's complete.

The civic centre makeover was announced in July. All three levels of government held a joint news conference to announce funding to expand and renovate the recreation complex.

The federal government pledged over $5.2 million, the Manitoba government pledged more than $4.4 million, and the City of Winnipeg pledged more than $3.5 million to the project.

The money will go to new multi-purpose meeting rooms, an administrative space for the St. James Assiniboia 55+ Centre, and a community kitchen.

It will also help with improvements to the auditorium, the main building entry, and the washrooms. These upgrades will provide more program opportunities and improve accessibility.

- With files from CTV's Kayla Rosen