The cancellation of a tender package for the city's Canada Winter Games athletes' village will not delay construction of the $31.4-million facility.

In a series of interviews this week, Mike Frasher, the government's project manager for the village, said while there had been one tender package cancelled and another one delayed, the project is still on track and on budget.

The athletes' village for the 2007 Games is scheduled to be ready in approximately a year.

The village, planned for the Yukon College area, will include two buildings connected by a core, with one building containing 48 suites and the other including 24 suites.

Once the games are concluded, the village will be used as student residences and affordable housing options managed by the Yukon Housing Corp.

Frasher said the original package for the building's core was cancelled a week after being issued on Sept. 30 to prevent an 'overloading' of the government department responsible for handling tenders.

The original tender, Frasher said, was estimated to be worth $1 million and included four components.

'We (have) a tender out for structural steel; it's the critical component (of the core),' Frasher said this morning.

The government had delayed tendering the roof truss, glue lamb and flooring of the building, all included in the original tender, until a later date, he explained.

He said the tendering of the structural steel, which was delayed a further two weeks at the request of the bidders, closed Wednesday after two bids were received.

The bids, according to Frasher, included a $426,000-quote from Klondike Steel and a $435,700-estimate from Mobile Maintenance, and are now being considered.

Frasher also said the government awarded two separate contracts, mechanical and electrical, for the project last Thursday.

He said the mechanical contract, involving boilers and air handling equipment, was awarded to Keith Plumbing and Heating for $4,366,693.

The electrical contract went to Dynamic Systems for $2,038,766.92.

Frasher said a prototype of the modular components, the actual rooms for the village which come in self-contained units, will be viewed next week. The first batch of units is scheduled for delivery and installation in late November.

Each modular unit will measure 16 metres (52 feet) long and four metres (12 feet) wide and will come fully furnished with windows, doors, wiring and drywall.

Each unit will also be wired into a security system, with the building's lobby visible from each unit's television set.