Last week marked the official start of pre-construction at the new Saskatchewan Hospital and integrated correctional facility in North Battleford.
Officials from the province, the City of North Battleford and Prairie North Health Region were at the location of the new facility Friday.
The pre-construction activities are designed to build infrastructure for the new integrated 188-bed hospital and 96-unit correctional facility. According to the province, pre-construction will involve putting up two new power lines, a new gas line, water lines, a sewer line, two telecom lines and relocation of another telecom line, as well as a temporary construction road.
The work is being done by SaskEnergy, SaskTel and SaskPower. The water portion is still out to tender, and a Lloydminster company has won the tender for the temporary roads.
It was evident work was already underway with heavy equipment already on site and a road allowance already up.
“This is going to be a process in terms of putting in the utilities and putting in all the different lines,” said Jennifer Campeau, minister of central services. “There’s a budget of $3 million for that, and that’s to get the site ready for the actual construction. So that’s going to take until July to do.”
The work is being done in a large area north of the existing Saskatchewan Hospital building and grounds. Once preliminary work is done, expected by July 1, that area should be ready for full construction to start.
But there are still decisions to be made as the government must still select which one of the three submitted proposals will be selected for construction of the new hospital.
Campeau told reporters, the procurement stage is still underway, and it is also not confirmed whether it will be a public-private partnership project. The actual location of the new integrated facility is yet to be finalized as well.
The start of pre-construction work delighted the elected officials in attendance.
“This is absolutely a great day for the Battlefords,” said Herb Cox, MLA for the Battlefords, and a “great day for residents and staff” in the hospital.
He was happy to see progress get underway, though he says “I guess I don’t really look at it as delays, I call it planning.”
He pointed to the addition of the integrated correctional facility, as well as the 3P process, of which he said “hopefully that’s going to bear fruit down the line when we see the final design.”
Mayor Ian Hamilton said he was happy to see the preconstruction work begin.
“It’s a great day for residents of the Battlefords and region,” said Hamilton, noting SHNB is a “huge employer of residents of our area and contributes incredibly to our economy.”
He pointed to his own family’s work connection to the hospital starting around 1929.
“It’s an exciting time.”
