By Lara Fominoff @LaraFominoff on Twitter

Yates Theatre opening delayed once again

May 2, 2018 | 2:27 PM

LETHBRIDGE –  A world wide shortage of lighting components, unanticipated structural issues and more asbestos remediation means that the Genevieve Yates Theatre in Lethbridge won’t open until September.

It’s the third time so far that construction delays have been cited in the $13.4 million renovation.

According to the city, the building contained an unexpected amount of asbestos, which required specialized remediation, while new structural issues were also identified recently when the roof and walls were opened.

“It’s an old building, and although we did as much investigation as we could prior to the construction, there are some things we just didn’t know,” said Project Manager Rob Villeneuve. “These unknowns have required redesign and that adds extra time.”

To add to that, lighting components needed in the audience chamber are also delaying construction.

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“We’re looking for ways to speed up this process, but there appears to be a backlog in demand for this product across the world,” said Villeneuve.

At a meeting March 5, Facilities Manager Conrad Westerson updated City Council on the construction and said, “each project we have, has a contingency put on it, whether it’s 8 per cent or 10 per cent of the project. And we try to keep that contingency expenditure down. Basically, what that’s there for, is to handle change orders; things where we encounter unforeseen expenses.”

That would make the contingency budget for the Yates between $1.072 and $1.34 million. Recreation services Manager Jason Freund says it hasn’t been used up yet.

“I don’t know exactly how much is left, but I do know we have not fully spent all of the contingency that’s set aside for the project. So, we do still have money for extras and project changes over the time and whatnot.

“If that were to change, which we don’t expect to be the case, then we would have to approach council for additional funding basically to finish the project. We’re not there, and we don’t anticipate we’ll be there, so hopefully that won’t be any kind of issue moving forward with the project.”

The back of house construction, which includes areas like the green room, and back stage, are still anticipated to be completed by the end of 2018.

Freund says because they’re not able to get to some of the things they need to in the front of house (theatre, reception, ticket office), they’re working where they can.

“Instead of obviously having our construction idle, and not working during the times where we’re waiting for materials to arrive, is they’re actually starting to work on those other areas at the same time. Actually, depending upon how much delay there is on the front of house, we could actually catch up in the back of house; that it’s possible that they’ll finish much, much closer to one another and they’ll both finish before December.”

That of course depends, he says, on when materials arrive because those timelines are still being sorted out.

“We understand the impact this change has on the groups that use the Yates Theatre,” Freund explains. “We’re working hard to keep everyone informed as things change and to explore all the options we can to minimize the impact on the community.”

The Yates Theatre was closed in September 2017, to allow for extensive renovations, including upgraded mechanical and electrical systems, a fire sprinkler system, upgraded finishes, fully accessible washrooms and an elevator, and new audio/visual systems.