Saskatoon's Remai Modern build went $8M over budget, museum has roof problems: report
CTV
Construction on Saskatoon's Remai Modern art museum went more than $8 million over budget and the building currently has problems with its roof, according to a city report.
Construction on Saskatoon's Remai Modern art museum went more than $8 million over budget and the building currently has problems with its roof, according to a city report.
City administration blames much of the cost overrun on the design of the museum and says there is an outstanding legal claim against the architectural firm Smith Carter Architects and Engineers Inc. — now operating as Architecture49.
"Resolution of this claim has taken substantially longer than anticipated," the report says. Another claim involving construction firm EllisDon has been settled, according to the report.
The museum, which opened in 2017, had a final cost of $92.1 million, the report says.
A previous report prepared shortly before the museum opened initially estimated the cost overrun at somewhere between $2.5 million and $4.5 million.
However, the newest report says the total has escalated since then because "additional costs were incurred related to claims preparation and repair of some building deficiencies that were not able to be attributed to contractor or designer failure."
The report says "deficiencies" were found in the museum's roof and that some repairs have been completed but more work is needed.