Demolition of 207 Alexander St. is moving ahead as planned, contrary to concerns raised by the NDP Monday in the legislature.

Michael Hale, the vice-president of operations for the Yukon Housing Corp., confirmed today that the demolition contract has been awarded.

Confusion arose when a second tender was put out for the demolition, Hale told the Star.

"We evaluated two options around how to proceed with the demolition, and in the end, we did go with the higher-cost option but it has a higher level of asbestos abatement, so that's why we made that decision,” Hale said.

Demolition is planned to be completed by June 15, with construction hoped to begin soon afterward.

The construction contract has not yet been tendered for the project, so Hale could not provide tight timelines.

On Monday, Jan Stick, the official Opposition's poverty reduction critic, raised concerns that the demolition contract had been cancelled.

"Yukoners are getting used to major capital projects being punted around like a political football by this team Yukon Party,” Stick told her colleagues.

"We know all too well — what with the F.H. Collins saga — that expediency for election purposes can mess up good planning, project management and fiscal responsibility,” she said.

"207 Alexander Street has been used as the solution for various social issues. We heard about the hard to house; we heard about persons with disabilities and now seniors.

"We all want good, appropriate, affordable housing for our seniors, and we sincerely hope that when the government says 207 Alexander Street will be for seniors, that it is, and we hope they will be working with a good design.”

Scott Kent, the minister responsible for the housing corporation, reiterated the government's commitment to the project.

"As I said, the demolition will be undertaken shortly,” he told the house.

"My understanding is design documents are 95-per-cent complete. They'll of course have to go to the Yukon Housing Corporation board of directors for their final approval before we can release them for comment, but we're moving forward,” Kent said.

"I would expect a construction tender to be put on notice within the next couple of months, as I mentioned, and we look forward to replacing that facility with 34 units for seniors, rent geared to income — another example of providing affordable housing for Yukoners, in this case our seniors.”

The seniors will pay 25 per cent of their gross income to stay in the building, Kent added.

"We look forward to having that building ready in 2014 for the seniors who will move in there — again, with an eye to maximizing the number of units we can put on that lot, in a crucial area, which is the downtown core of Whitehorse,” he said.

The 1960s-era building that will come down was retrofitted for greater energy efficiency in the early 1980s.