Replacing the roof of a Peachland landmark is going to cost the district more than originally thought.
During the 2020 budget process, staff estimated that replacing the roof of the Historic Peachland School, now the Peachland Art Gallery, will cost approximately $25,000.
But during the Tuesday, Oct. 13 meeting, community services director Cheryl Wiebe told the council that the initial estimate was severely underfunding the project.
Wiebe said staff expect the project will come in around between $75,000 and $90,000.
The District of Peachland has enough room to increase the funding for the project but the new figure was still met with shock by some council members.
“Reading this and speaking with other contractors here in our town, I am very very surprised by this,” Counc. Patrick Van Minsel said.
“Seventy-five thousand dollars to $90,000 to replace the roof - that to me is surprising. I have a feeling, and I hope that I’m wrong, but I think that some of the contractors that are bidding on this are bidding way higher than they would bid if it was another - if it was an individual after this proposal. Going from $25,000 to $90,000 just boggles my mind.”
He also asked why the whole roof must be replaced to begin with.
Wiebe said the roof is at its end of life stage, as it wasn’t part of the full building renovation in 2011. She also explained that the increased price does not mean that’s how much the project will actually cost but rather, this is to enable the district to put out tenders and have companies bid at a competitive price without having to collect those bids and bring them back to council again, which will only prolong the process.
“(The initial) $25,000 was a target that staff chose based on our experience with other types of roofs. (The Peachland School) is far larger, it has more gables, it has more peaks,” Wiebe said.
“It’s a bigger scale and scope than we had anticipated.”
The motion to increase the project’s funding did move forward and was approved by the district’s council.
Counc. Pete Coolio said that even if the project costs much more than what has been asked for, the point is that the district will be preserving a historic building that is important to the Peachland community.
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