Decade in the making
Work on Legends Centre's roof, water-damaged areas near completion
Work on the Legends Centre, which ran into problems with leaking shortly after it opened a decade ago, has now been completed. The city is paying approximately $765,000 of the repair costs.
By Joel Wittnebel/The Oshawa Express
It’s been almost a decade in the making, but by next month Oshawa may be able to put the sad saga of the Legends Centre construction behind it.
According to Mark Robinson, the city’s director of facilities management, most of the construction on the roof and water-damaged areas is now complete and only a small contingent of work remains, which should be done by mid-October.
Robinson says the repairs have been successful overall with limited disruption to the activities inside the building.
“Just given the volume of the pubic that run through that building, they’ve been very accommodating,” he says.
The facility officially opened its doors in 2006, but soon after began showing problems with several portions of the roof, which led to leaking and water damage inside the building.
Now, Robinson says repairs are completed on the roof over the pool, and the replacement of a section of roof above the main corridor is now complete. New tile has also been laid on the corridor floor.
The sidewalk work outside the north entrance is now complete, which allowed for that entrance to be recently reopened, and drywall damaged between the pool and fitness room has all been replaced.
Following the original construction, the city launched a lawsuit against Maystar General Contractors, the company responsible for the original work, but a settlement was later reached between the two organizations without going to court.
“The city and Maystar negotiated the work,” Robinson says. “The costs were vetted through a third-party cost estimator to ensure the city was getting the best deal.”
That deal has the city paying approximately $765,000 for the repairs, with an undisclosed amount being covered by Maystar.
Robinson says the deal was the best possible outcome for the city.
“It’s a win-win situation,” he says. “The city wins because we get work done that we were budgeting regardless to do, to fix the deficiencies.”
The remaining repairs to Oshawa’s newest recreation complex will take place in the coming weeks, when the centre shuts down for general maintenance at the end of this month.
One major piece of work will include the installation of destratification fans that will help with the temperature and air quality in parts of the building.
“A number of the public who use the track had raised concerns about how hot it is up there,” Robinson says.
As well, work will be done around the entrances help keep the outside weather outside, ensuring the cold is kept out in the winter and the heat in the summer.
Robinson says most of the work will be done during the shutdown, so it shouldn’t cause any disturbance to programming at Legends.
“It’s not going to have a significant impact on the public, but if we can get two weeks of nice quiet time, we can probably get a lot more done,” he says.