WESTLOCK — While the Town of Westlock’s new $4.44-million public works shop and cold-storage facility are on track to be done by the end of 2023, progress has been slowed by supply-chain issues and weather delays and has pushed back the finish date to the end of December.
The new shop, located at 11012 – 97th Avenue, was first announced in December 2021 as part of the municipality’s 2022 capital budget — ground broke in August 2023 with the new shop beginning to take shape this spring.
“It was kind of an ambitious timeline on our part but also logistics and supply have been a challenge with respect to that (timeline) and that’s caused some delay and weather on other projects has cause delays for the crews to get to town,” said town director of operations Robin Benoit. “The superstructure (above ground structure) and the exterior shelve installation and interior finish is done and (we will be adding) rebar and forming the structural slab for the shop over the next couple of weeks.”
That work will be followed by the interior, mechanical systems, electrical systems and interior walls, said Benoit, adding that the new shop will be an “end-of-year turnover” that will be completed in December with a grand opening and ribbon cutting expected sometime in January 2024.
The old shop was built in 1975 and was named after David G. Turner, a long-time town employee and community booster. It is 7,800 square feet and has two bay doors on the front of the building and two on the back, unlike the new shop that will feature the town’s colours and be almost double in size at 14,000 square feet with five bay doors at the front and five at the back.
Benoit said the new shop and cold-storage facility will be better able to meet current operational needs as well as benefit employees, as it will replace several buildings the town currently uses into one location.
“The new shop will have a larger capacity and part of the reason for that is because we’re consolidating into one facility. Basically, it’s a consolidation of three sites into one — Jubilee Arena, the old recycle building on 108th Street and another operations (area) on 107th Avenue that we’ll be moving to the new shop,” he explained.
The larger space will benefit several departments, including facilities, parks and public works and will house “all seasonal operations” with one set up for spring, summer and fall for one for winter operations “under one roof.”
“We’ll be able to maintain all that equipment efficiently. Right now, we’re split between multiple buildings, which does cause some issues,” he said. “As well, there’ll be space for workers to change or shower when they come off the job … when we’re down in trenches and repairing sanitary sewer, right now we don’t have a place for staff to get cleaned up after they’ve done that kind of work.”
In addition, there will be training room, more general office space and room for other requirements as well, he noted.
“Part of the building will also be dual purpose storage and wash, so we’ll be able to wash our equipment and improve the lifespan of some of our equipment and reduce some of our maintenance costs as well,” said Benoit. “Overall, the building will be more energy efficient than the other facilities that we’re going to be vacating so there should be an improvement overall by doing so.”
The $320,000 cold-storage facility is expected to open late this fall and is a separate building but will be in the same vicinity as the public works shop. It was slated to go up in “mid-to-late July” but has also been delayed to weather and logistical details as they had a bit “more work on the design side of things” to do, including finalizing its new location.
Details of a grand opening and ribbon cutting ceremony for it will be confirmed in the coming weeks, said Benoit, adding they are looking forward to using the new shop early in the new year.
“It’s been a long time coming for everybody and it would be nice to have a grand opening for people to come and see the facility,” said Benoit.
