Investors Group Field repairs to cost more than $35M, province approves loan guarantee
By: Bartley Kives / Winnipeg Free Press

 

Two years after Investors Group Field opened its doors, the repair tab for the football stadium stands at no less than $35.3 million.

 

The province has approved a $35.3-million loan guarantee that will allow stadium owner Triple B Stadium --  shell company representing the city, province, University of Manitoba and the Winnipeg Football Club --to begin construction on the 33,500-seat facility after the Grey Cup is held in November.

 

Work will begin on the 200-level concourse, which will be replaced this winter, said Triple B Stadium chairman Andrew Konowalchuk.

 

In March, Triple B Stadium filed a statement of claim against stadium contractor Stuart Olson and architect Ray Wan, seeking damages for 42 "functional and operational defects" identified by Winnipeg consulting firm Architecture 49.

 

The alleged defects include slopes that drain water into the building, the failure to insulate sprinklers and concrete slabs so weak they are "a problem for moving kegs of beer," according to the lawsuit.

 

In a statement of defence filed in April, Stuart Olson denied most of Triple B’s allegations, stating the shell company made all the key construction decisions, in concert with the province, which paid for most of the construction up front.

 

In his own statement of defence, filed in June, Wan denied responsibility for dozens of alleged design and construction deficiencies at the venue — and blamed Triple B for cracked concrete slabs throughout its concourses.

 

Konowalchuk declined to comment on this lawsuit. He praised the province for providing a loan guarantee for the repairs.

 

Triple B Stadium is also paying off a $10-million CIBC stadium-building loan. This is on top of a $160-million provincial loan to the Winnipeg Football Club.

They ****** up. They should pay. Still 235 250 for a pretty good stadium is nothing

How many other corners were cut that we will find out about in the years to come

@joshbedry: @bkives I smile a bit when I read this. Only cause my dad was fired from the job for being slow... He says he wanted to do it properly.

@joshbedry: @bkives he oversaw concrete. When someone poured over unfinished foundation without his ok, he told his crew to rip it out. Fired next day.

What a gongshow.

Is this just part of other examples that will come to light when the legal implications of this heat up?

@joshbedry: @bkives I smile a bit when I read this. Only cause my dad was fired from the job for being slow... He says he wanted to do it properly.

@joshbedry: @bkives he oversaw concrete. When someone poured over unfinished foundation without his ok, he told his crew to rip it out. Fired next day.

This is par for the course when it comes to construction in winnipeg

The lawyers are loving this one.

Things that happen when you try to do something on the cheap. Do it right the first time, regardless of cost, and don't worry about it again.

@joshbedry: @bkives I smile a bit when I read this. Only cause my dad was fired from the job for being slow... He says he wanted to do it properly.

@joshbedry: @bkives he oversaw concrete. When someone poured over unfinished foundation without his ok, he told his crew to rip it out. Fired next day.

Then the guy that fired him should be fired and the dad should get his job. I've been working construction for 40 years and good, competent tradesmen are hard to find and getting harder to find all the time. You always take the time to do it right the first time. Morons!

The Sun article says that the accumulated debt now stands at 189 million. Can anyone tell me what the annual interest payment would be on a loan that size?

The Sun article says that the accumulated debt now stands at 189 million. Can anyone tell me what the annual interest payment would be on a loan that size?

Assuming a 3% interest rate, $5,670,000. Peanuts for the taxpayers of Manitoba.  

Government of the day playing fast a loose with taxpayers money what else is new

 

Investors Group Field repairs to cost more than $35M, province approves loan guarantee

By: Bartley Kives / Winnipeg Free Press

 

Two years after Investors Group Field opened its doors, the repair tab for the football stadium stands at no less than $35.3 million.

 

The province has approved a $35.3-million loan guarantee that will allow stadium owner Triple B Stadium --  shell company representing the city, province, University of Manitoba and the Winnipeg Football Club --to begin construction on the 33,500-seat facility after the Grey Cup is held in November.

 

Work will begin on the 200-level concourse, which will be replaced this winter, said Triple B Stadium chairman Andrew Konowalchuk.

 

In March, Triple B Stadium filed a statement of claim against stadium contractor Stuart Olson and architect Ray Wan, seeking damages for 42 "functional and operational defects" identified by Winnipeg consulting firm Architecture 49.

 

The alleged defects include slopes that drain water into the building, the failure to insulate sprinklers and concrete slabs so weak they are "a problem for moving kegs of beer," according to the lawsuit.

 

In a statement of defence filed in April, Stuart Olson denied most of Triple B’s allegations, stating the shell company made all the key construction decisions, in concert with the province, which paid for most of the construction up front.

 

In his own statement of defence, filed in June, Wan denied responsibility for dozens of alleged design and construction deficiencies at the venue — and blamed Triple B for cracked concrete slabs throughout its concourses.

 

Konowalchuk declined to comment on this lawsuit. He praised the province for providing a loan guarantee for the repairs.

 

Triple B Stadium is also paying off a $10-million CIBC stadium-building loan. This is on top of a $160-million provincial loan to the Winnipeg Football Club.

 

You might not have the right to post articles from the FP now that they have a paywall. 

I was about to post the article myself. Which I paid for.

By the time this is all said and done the NDP will be gone anyway and it will be someone else's mess to clean up

How can this be the government's mess to clean up? These sort of contracts clearly specify that all work must be done to code, and if the general or sub-contractors or architect or engineers screw up, that is their problem. The government has to protect its investment and if it means guaranteeing the cost of the repair work, that is what has to be done. The alternative, letting the stadium remain as is and deteriorate until the process finishes winding its way through the courts (which will take years) would be insane.

Your house insurance has a clause that, in the event of say, a storm ripping part of your roof off, you are required to take reasonable measures (like putting a tarp over the damaged part) or any further damage that results will not be covered.

Same principle.

the ndp wanted to fast track this stadium, they pushed all of this, they know this months ago, this is gregs baby that has gone bad, but who knows what happens in court, that lawyers bill could be in the millions as well , who knows

the ndp wanted to fast track this stadium, they pushed all of this, they know this months ago, this is gregs baby that has gone bad, but who knows what happens in court, that lawyers bill could be in the millions as well , who knows

And that's exactly what the defense will say if it goes to court, but i doubt it will

Sometimes everyone is at fault. Contractors need to build things to code... they didn't.

I could be wrong but doesn't the government have people that have to sign off on different aspects of the project as it moves along. ie take core samples of the concrete, measure slope for proper drainage.

Seen these things many times. Everyone has lawyers. They all show up, plead their case, and an agreement gets settled on. It's always the same. The shareholders, or in this case, the taxpayers, always end up paying. It's a well orchestrated symphony of siphoning off as much $$$ as possible so that everyone gets a good feed at the trough. Trust me on this. Been in the business for more years than I care to admit.

Im no expert.  But if I hire someone to build my house, is it a reasonable assumption that the person hired to design the house and the contractor hired to build the house know what they are doing (assuming they are reputable)?  And if the contractor comes to me to sign off on some element of construction, am I supposed to know if its faulty?  Or is he supposed to make sure its not faulty?

 

I was perusing Skyscraper forum and some architects and insiders on there are saying this is bigger than everyone knows and that we would be shocked if we knew what they were about to do to the stadium to repair it.  Sounds like a gut job to a degree.  And supposedly this $30+ million is to keep the building from falling down and IGF will need further repairs and renos down the road.

 

The NDP will put this off as along as possible so it's PC's problem when they win the election

No one to blame but triple b.

There are endless stories about the rampant corner cutting and people leaving or fired because they spoke up.

Stuart Olsen has a less than stellar track record. the fault of BBB was beleiving SO. SO has to be legally responsible.  

Stuart Olsen has a less than stellar track record. the fault of BBB was beleiving SO. SO has to be legally responsible.  

That's really the issue right?  If BBB was warned and informed and ordered their contractor to go forward then they are responsible.  But I suspect theres a little bit of everything here.

 

The architect designed it poorly and from I understand that includes many things we might not be aware (read today about carting food through the crowd to get to the Pinnacle room because the kitchen is on the opposite side with no internal access).

 

The contractor knowingly built a poorly designed stadium without fully informing the owners of the design issues and/or did shoddy work themselves.  I've heard of poorly poured cement for example.

 

The owners (BBB) signed off on a poorly designed stadium and pushed the contractors to work too fast and/or signed off on shoddy work because it was quicker/faster.

 

BBB will likely say "we hired experts and we cant be expected to know.  It was their job to know."  Contractor will say "we fully informed the owners and they told us to do it anyway."  And both will say the architect gave them a bad design from the beginning.  The architect will say I have them the design they asked for for the price they were willing to pay,

 

Im sure all parties will end up sharing the responsibility,.  The question is, how much will be paid for by the taxpayer?

If you want another frame of reference, look at the Winnipeg airport and the expensive renovations it had to go through to be fully functional, and that had nothing to do with BBB. Poop happens and the guilty party or parties do carry insurance, thank God.