Whitehorse Daily Star

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BIDS IN – Three bids were received by yesterday’s deadline for construction of the new track and field facility behind F.H. Collins Secondary School. PS Sidhu Trucking of White- horse was low bid. Image courtesy YESAB

Local bid lowest for construction of new track and field

PS Sidhu Trucking of Whitehorse has submitted the lowest of three bids received for the construction of new track and field behind F.H. Collins Secondary School.

By Chuck Tobin on May 25, 2018

PS Sidhu Trucking of Whitehorse has submitted the lowest of three bids received for the construction of new track and field behind F.H. Collins Secondary School.

The tender closed Thursday.

Sidhu Trucking bid $6.58 million, or $500,000 lower than the next lowest.

Johnson Builders Ltd. of St. Albert, Alta. bid $7.08. It was second lowest while Wilco Civil of Langley, B.C. was the highest with a bid of $8.56 million, or $2 million more than Sidhu Trucking.

Communications analyst Bonnie VentonRoss of the Department of Community Services said the bids will now be checked for compliance with the tender document.

The tender called for construction to begin next month with completion by October 2019.

The Yukon government had estimated the project would cost $6.8 million

The new athletics facility will include a regulation soccer pitch covered with artificial turf and an eight-lane, 400-metre rubberized track.

It will also include spectator seating, a shot-put area, two long jump pits and a high jump area.

Having confirmation of the project funding in the territorial budget delivered by Premier Sandy Silver on March 1 was essential for Whitehorse to bid as the host community for the 55+ Games in August 2020.

Sport Yukon president George Arcand said this morning the bid is ready to go and will be submitted next week ahead of the May 31 deadline.

Calgary is also expected to bid, Arcand said, though he’s not sure if other communities will be bidding.

He said there was talk at one point of interest from Kamloops, B.C., and Fort McMurray, Alta. It’s expected between 1,600 and 2,000 athletes will be participating in the 2020 Games.

When Whitehorse last hosted in 2004, there were 1,200 participants.

Arcand the Team Yukon will likely have a contingent of 250 to 300 athletes in 2020.

Arcand and ElderActive president Tom Parlee appeared before city council May 1 to seek support for their bid.

They told council an assessment of the potential economic impact the Games will bring to the city shows a benefit of $3.8 million to the economy.

There was some concern expressed by Athletics Yukon about the new facility not being able to accommodate the javelin, discus and hammer throw. The events cannot be held on artificial turf.

Sport Yukon, however, is certain those events can be easily be provided for at the soccer field next door behind the Selkirk Elementary School.

Comments (1)

Up 8 Down 7

My Opinion on May 26, 2018 at 8:02 pm

Kids are out of school almost before it is possible to use this stuff, and by the time they are back summer is almost over. Huge waste of money for the quality of this facility. Just a field and a track would have ben fine for maybe a million.

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