The cost to build Ottawa’s new super library has jumped by 75 percent, a report to the Ottawa Public Library Board has revealed.

Ongoing strain on construction supply chains during the COVID-19 pandemic has brought the cost of the building up from its original planned cost of $175 million to $306 million, and the City of Ottawa will be on the hook for $65 million of that increase.

The report from the city’s Finance and Economic Development Committee revealed that the city received two qualified bids for the library project when the tender closed in early September. At $334 million, the lowest of those fixed-price bids was from PCL Constructors.

The report explains that the increase in the project cost to build that facility is combination of factors, among them is the fact that the budget for the project was developed in 2016. At that time, the project owners allowed for a price escalation of 10 percent. Construction costs have actually escalated by a whopping 65 percent since that budget was prepared.

“Canada is experiencing a significant increase in construction costs due to COVID-19 impacts,” says the report. “A combination of material shortages and commodity escalation, supply chain slowdowns and pressures, labour implications and a superheated market, have all been described by the Ottawa Construction Association and observed in recent city tenders as has been communicated to council.”

The super library, which will be known by Ᾱdisōke, an Anishinābemowin word for storytelling, will be shared by Ottawa Public Library (OPL) and Library and Archives Canada (LAC). The organizations have arranged to share the cost to build the facility with OPL responsible for 60 percent of the project costs, and LAC the remaining 40 percent.

Ottawa’s portion of the total project cost has risen by $64 million to $168 million. A further $1.2 million is needed to fit up the food and beverage operations in the facility. Members of the city’s Finance and Economic Development Committee will discuss how to come up with that additional funding at a special meeting on October 19.

The federal Treasury Board has already approved the increased costs for the federal part of the project.

The report also shows that the project completion date has been pushed by another year. The project was originally planned for completion in 2023, but that date was pushed back to 2025 and most recently to 2026.

Featured image: Architectural rendering of the future joint facility (Library and Archives Canada)