An oil tank has been discovered on the site of the future civic centre but it's not anticipated to delay construction or impact the project's budget.
The City of New Westminster has partnered with the Uptown Property Group to build an office tower on top of the civic centre at the corner of Columbia and Eighth streets. Most of the excavation has been complete and the next step is to shore up the site for the three levels of underground parking.
"We left some of the foundation walls. We had to do that because it is acting like a retaining wall," said Terry Atherton, the city's manager of civic buildings and properties. "If you go by the site, some of the existing foundation walls were left up."
During the excavation, contractors discovered an old oil tank at the site.
"There is some spill here and there," Atherton said. "We are trying to remediate that."
City administrator Paul Daminator said some soil testing is now underway to determine if any leakage occurred from the tank and the extent of that contamination.
"We don't expect it to be much of an issue," he said.
Atherton said the city has some time to remove any soil that's been contaminated before the excavation contractor moves full speed ahead.
"The excavation contractor has to drill around the perimeter of the site before he can start excavating," he explained. "That will take about a month and a half."
According to Atherton, removal of the tank is a simple procedure that involves emptying whatever contents may remain in the tank and then removing the tank. The contaminated soils around the site will also be removed.
While it's not known how much of the soil has been contaminated, Atherton said it's not expected to be a large area.
The city's restaurant and civic facility will comprise about 92,000 square feet of the new building, while the office tower will be about 130,000 square feet. The city's portion of the civic centre, which will be located on Columbia Street between Eighth and Begbie streets, will include a theatre, convention space, art studios, an art gallery, tourist information centre and the city's museum.
In addition to awarding a contract for the excavation, shoring and utility relocation work that will be done at the site of the new civic centre and office tower, the City of New Westminster and the Uptown Property Group have also hired Pivotal Project Management to provide project management services for the development of the new multiuse civic facility and the office tower.
Atherton said the company will oversee the construction project, the budget and the scheduling. The project must be complete by Dec. 31, 2013.
"We are on schedule. The end date hasn't changed," Daminato said. "There has been some shuffling of timelines within the schedule. Basically things are moving along."
In other civic centre news, the City of New Westminster is seeking the services of professionals to develop a new brand and marketing strategy for the multi-use civic facility.
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