Halifax Forum cost overruns land at an extra $12 million-$14 million

Cost overruns for redeveloping the Halifax Forum — numbers a minor hockey club claimed to have that councillors didn’t — are out of the bag.

The $126-million project is now expected to cost $140 million-$144 million.

John MacPherson, who spoke on behalf of the major projects office at a Halifax regional council meeting Tuesday, at first sidestepped when asked about projected cost overruns that were behind cancelling a public information session earlier this month.

He said staff found out in September from the contractor that it would be higher than the expected $126 million, that it will take months to validate the cost estimates and council can expect a full report with options in December.

“The cost that we’re seeing now, or the results, are not specific to demolition but to refinement of the design as it goes through the design process, and the market uncertainty factors is a large part of that, as well,” MacPherson said.

The Halifax Hawks Minor Hockey Association posted that the new estimate was $148 million — a price tag councillors and the mayor weren’t given. The Hawks didn’t explain where they got the number.

When pressed on cost overruns Tuesday, MacPherson said “at this point, they’re greater than 10 per cent, around that 10 to 12 per cent (mark).” He said that equals $12 million to $14 million extra, making for a total of $140 million-$144 million.

In the past two months, city staff paused the demolition permit and cancelled an Oct. 1 public information session because of the new estimate.

Councillors said they were in the dark about the reasons for the cancellation.

“I don’t know why we would delay the process that we’re going through on that, and I’ve never received an explanation from anyone that satisfies me that there was really a good reason for the pause,” said Coun. Sam Austin (Dartmouth Centre).

The session was strictly about the arena’s heritage designation and the planned demolition, and while it’s not mandated that the city hold this meeting, it’s considered best practice.

“The decision was made out of a sense of being prudent,” MacPherson explained. “We were operating on council’s previous council direction, which was . . . a project budget of $126 million. So roughly two weeks before the public hearing date, we were informed that the costs had escalated to a point where we weren’t comfortable that we could, you know, tweak that back into budget.”

Coun. Virginia Hinch (Halifax Peninsula North) brought forward a motion to reschedule the public engagement session in November, and she received unanimous approval.

She told reporters during a break that the cancellation was made in haste and that she doesn’t want to delay this project any further.

“The cost could increase from just waiting for that meeting to come up four or five months later,” she said.

Councillors pointed out that many people still think the Forum can be saved when it’s already been decided it’s past saving.

Coun. Nancy Hartling (Prospect Rd. – St. Margarets) said there’s a lot of misinformation going around and the engagement session needs to go ahead.

“I think that there’s been some loss of community trust, and I think that this is an important step forward in getting that trust back.”

Mayor Andy Fillmore told reporters he expects cost estimates to march past $150 million before any shovels hit the dirt.

He’s putting together his own alternative to be ready for the December report that would involve running the Forum for a few more years while a cheaper facility could be built elsewhere. He said he’s working toward partnerships with the Department of National Defence and others, possibly organizations like the Mooseheads or the PWHL, to make it happen.

“And I’ve also initiated a conversation with a private sector entity with land on the peninsula that it’s possible could host a two-pad (facility).”

Fillmore clarified that he didn’t have the cost overrun estimate before Tuesday and that he had no input into cancelling the meeting.

Hinch said she understands his position, but the Forum means a lot to people.

“All districts have some attachment to the Forum one way or another, so I just hope that we can stay on the path to continue on with the redevelopment, go forward, stop making these excuses to delay.”