May 2024 Update
Your Property Development Committee (PDC) has been hard at work in the past month setting up our project management systems & tools and engaging the consultants and engineers needed to advance the design of the church refurbishment project.
In our last update we passed along the good news that the Diocese had recently agreed to advance St. Catherine’s a $300,000 interim or “bridge” loan to maintain momentum pending the eventual sale of our surplus land (with the land sale proceeds to be used to re-pay that loan first). With that Diocese loan secured, and our “Seize the Day” fundraising proceeds already received, and with approval of Parish Council’s Administration and Finance Committee, we have in the past month been able to:
(1) engage our architect EW Architecture for the next phase of their work to complete the schematic design;
(2) retain AFFINE Climate Solutions Society as our professional project manager and “owner’s representative” to manage project deliverables and act as our representative with external contractors for the balance of 2024 (and beyond, subject to financing); and
(3) engage 9 specialist contractors to provide technical advice to our architect & project to support the design work to get us to the stage of construction drawings and building permit submission.
All of this work was included in the 2024 capital project budget approved at Vestry last February.
The 9 contractors hired in May include civil, geotechnical, structural, electrical & mechanical engineers to assess our current premises and future plans, energy and carbon emission reduction specialists, a landscape architect and a heritage building consultant. Members of PDC scrutinized the proposals from each consultant and fixed price or cost capped contracts have been made with each to carry us to the end of 2024 when we expect to have our building permit application ready.
The team held a kickoff meeting on May 9 to tour the church grounds and facilities and get familiar with the project and our vision. PDC were very impressed by the team and their collegial approach to integrated design development. That approach is expected to help guide us to the most cost-effective means of refurbishing our building while reducing the need for construction re-work by addressing potential “surprises” very early in the design process, before they become a re-design problem. This follows our patient and stepped “design then build” general approach (as compared to the more costly but faster “design and build” approach which can result in costly re-work at a later stage). Below is a photo of the team just before our building tour.
Next up for the project will be the roll out of our long-promised consultation process with the congregation, pre-school and various other key user groups which will unfold over the next few months. Please watch the newsletter and Sunday announcements for times and locations when set. Those consultations will help to shape the detailed designs and floor layouts that we then expect to be able to put before the Parish for approval in the Fall, in advance of finishing construction drawings and submitting building permit designs to the District of North Vancouver for approval late in 2024 or early 2025. In the meantime, if you see any of the consultants/engineers on site doing their work over the next few months now you’ll now know what they are up to! Please make them feel welcome – we can tell they are energized by this project and excited to help us achieve our vision of building renewal and sustainability.
Your Property Development Committee