George Jeffrey Children’s Centre New Facility Nears Completion
by Scott A. Sumner
A dream for many in Thunder Bay has been the completion of a new building for the children who utilize the services of the George Jeffrey Children’s Centre. This dream is about to come true, after much hard work by many. I had a tour recently of the beautiful new 35,000
square feet structure and came away totally impressed. It will be a place everyone can be proud of and help the staff provide even better services to the children who need it.
The unique building is being constructed by Gateway Contractors (Thunder Bay) Limited, owned by Debbie Cashmore, Secretary Treasurer and Bob Olmstead, President. The Gateway name has had quite a history in Thunder Bay and was reformed January 29, 1997 by Cashmore, Olmstead and Ted Pollock. Pollock has since retired but Cashmore and Olmstead
have carried on completing some impressive projects to add to the landmark of Thunder Bay.
“ We used the Gateway name as we had been with the former company for some 35 years. The old Gateway owner decided to close down.The three of us knew construction and decided to keep going,” said Bob Olmstead. “ We like the business, the ongoing challenges of putting
something together, seeing the final outcome and producing something everybody is happy with.” The current two shareholders have built the new Shelterhouse, Hilldale Gardens Seniors Residence and an addition to Boston Pizza. Previously they constructed the Italian Cultural Centre and the Lakehead University Teck Centre. Gateway has two people in the
office and in the field have 8 staff as their own and up to 25 people depending on the work.
The George Jeffrey Children's Centre is a wood frame construction of two levels with a mezzanine featuring a clear span to the ceiling as well as a swimming pool. It is a $7.5 million project that was started in September 2007 and will finish October 2008. “ I think the biggest challenge was the construction of the roof itself with many trusses, etc that had to be put together like a jig saw puzzle. Our staff have the expertise so it went well,” said Debbie Cashmore. “ The design of the building has wood features on the outside , wood trestles and the roof design is very unique and catches your eye. The interior is set up for challenge children so there are many rooms designed to allow the children to feel comfortable in the setting.
The building has a poured foundation. This was the site of an older school and Gateway had to remove some foundations from that building before they started. The architect is Kuchs Stephenson Gibson Malo. The exterior will be masonry and stucco. It is a very impressive building. From the lobby you can see through the top of the second floor area,
said Olmstead.It feels good to do this project and has been a nice job. Our subtrades
are all local expect for one specialized from Winnipeg. They have all down well.
Bill Mayer is the Job Superintendent for the George Jeffrey Children's Centre. “ We have built a pool with a personal change room where the children can be assisted to the washrooms and then can be lowered right in to the pool off their bench or chair. The pool has 4 levels,” said Mayer. “ All the walls are R28 insulation and there is R 60 in the roof to help on the heating and cooling of the building. All rooms have movement light sensors so they will stay of when
unoccupied. The project has been a challenge in the details but it has worked out well and turned out to be a pretty nice building. All the sub trades have been very efficient with the man power they have. Some of the trades people have left town but you have to work with those
that are still here. It may take a little longer but we are still on schedule. The roof is a glued down vinyl by Cardinal with a 20 year warranty. There are only 3 of these types of roofs finished in Thunder Bay.”
“ The construction climate is good right now in Thunder Bay. There is a lot of work out for tender and most of the companies seem to be quite busy. It is looking good for 2009 as well,” said Olmstead. “ We are working on the PEST Centre on Hammond Ave, a Protective
Firefighter Centre and Tower and been on site there for 2 month’s. We are also doing an addition to the Best Western Hotel in Dryden, adding a conference room and doing a new front facade and entrance way. You always start and finish projects so you have to be working on the next project month’s and month’s ahead.”
The George Jeffrey Children’s Centre will be finished by mid October and George Jeffrey wants to be in my the end of October after a move in and training period.
