New school contractor bankrupt
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 03/03/2020 (2056 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Work on the new Maryland Park School was halted Monday after the contractor in charge of the build filed for bankruptcy.
Fresh Projects based out of Winnipeg won the tender for the $22.7-million project in February 2019. On Monday, the company’s website, Twitter and Instagram accounts had all been taken down.
The provincial government’s Companies Office lists Fresh Projects’ current status as inactive and phone calls to the company’s office were not answered. Bankruptcy Canada did not have a record of the bankruptcy filing on Monday, but its database was last updated on Feb. 27.
After Monday’s public budget consultations, Brandon School Division board chair Linda Ross confirmed the company’s bankruptcy but said she did not have any additional information.
Ross was asked if she knew how this would affect construction, to which she said: “Not in a good way.” She added that she imagines that this will mean a delay in construction.
Division secretary-treasurer Denis Labossiere said that all work on site has been halted after the division was informed of the news at 11 a.m. Monday. The division has yet to receive official paperwork regarding the contractor’s bankruptcy.
He added that it is unknown what effect this will have on the school’s projected opening date of this September and said that the division is consulting the architects for the projects, its legal counsel as well as the provincial government to figure out the next steps.
Labossiere indicated that information would be released to the public about the situation in the future.
“Manitoba Education, the Brandon School Division and the bonding company will work together over the course of the next few weeks to develop a revised construction schedule,” a spokesperson for Education Minister Kelvin Goertzen told the Sun via email Monday evening.
Brandon Police Service Staff Sgt. Kevin Loewen said that an employee of a company working at the site called police asking for advice on the situation at approximately 2:30 p.m., after learning that lead contractor Fresh Projects had gone bankrupt. Police told the caller that it was a civil matter and that they would have to take it up with the school division or the company.
Fresh Projects submitted the lowest bid of the 10 received during the tender process for the new school. Approximately $10 million of the $22,679,187 bid was subcontracted to local companies for items like roofing, electrical and mechanical work.
Local subcontractors specifically mentioned in the bid were Brandon Plumbing and Heating, GT Smith and Sons and Flynn Roofing. Signs at the construction site also indicate that Alternative Excavation and Tazmanian Gravel are involved with the project.
» cslark@brandonsun.com
» Twitter: @ColinSlark