Edmonton paying more to build fire halls, rec centres than neighbouring communities: report

Fire halls and recreation centres in Edmonton are more expensive and take longer to build than in neighbouring communities, according to a new municipal report comparing capital projects.

Edmonton city council had asked earlier this year for an analysis to see the cost breakdown between Edmonton projects and those within satellite municipalities.

Colliers Project Leaders Inc., commissioned by the city to do the study, found multiple cost drivers, including the number of policies and bylaws builders have to navigate, and the city's commitment to making construction as green as possible.

"With each of those policies being adopted, there are incremental costs added and that increment adds up pretty quickly," said Lindsey Butterfield, vice-president of government relations and policy for BILD Edmonton Metro, a real estate and development agency, during the city's executive committee meeting Wednesday.

The committee reviewed the report's findings during the meeting.

The report compared different construction projects, such as Edmonton Fire Station No. 31, in the southwest area of Windermere, and Fire Station No. 9 in Leduc County, just south of Edmonton.

The fire halls are close in size and offer similar amenities. They were built at different periods, but the report shows the Leduc County station took much less time and a fraction of the cost to build.

Construction on the Windermere station spanned from 2017 to 2022, and cost nearly $15.6 million total, the report shows.

Fire station No. 9 in Leduc County, meanwhile, was finished in 2023. It took one year to build and cost about $5.7 million, the report shows.

Edmonton's project was more expensive, in part, because of the COVID-19 pandemic and inflation was higher from 2021 to 2023, the report says.

The City of Edmonton, however, was also following a sustainable building policy. In 2021, while construction was underway, the project team was asked to pursue net-zero standard, which added $3 million minimum to the price tag, the report says.

The "ambitious sustainability revised target" differed from Leduc's approach, "which was clearly to not pursue any third-party program or set any sustainability goals," the report says.

Edmonton city managers noted Wednesday that energy-efficient buildings cost more to build, but less to operate long-term. 

"When we do a design, we do it based on all of the policies being integrated into it … like the climate-resilience policies," said Pascal Ladouceur, branch manager of infrastructure planning and design.  

"Every decision that we make is related to that policy because it is embedded in every piece of the puzzle."

The report also analyzed Edmonton's Hemingway Pool rehabilitation and the Fountain Park Pool rehabilitation in St. Albert.

The Hemingway project, which started in 2018, is expected to take eight years, finishing in 2026. The St. Albert facility took five years, the project spanning 2019 to 2024.

Total construction cost data was not provided for the St. Albert pool, but Colliers was able to examine the cost per square metre for each project.

After adjusting the costs to 2024 dollars, the Hemingway Pool rehab is expected to cost about $9,500 per square metre, while the Fountain Park Pool rehab is estimated to have cost $2,050 per square metre.

Too many policies?

Some people who provided feedback to the executive committee during Wednesday's meeting suggested the city ought to narrow its focus when building fire halls and recreation centres.

The report shows the city follows 12 policies when designing such facilities, including climate resilience, public engagement, enterprise risk management, winter design and sustainable procurement.

Sue Keating, Melcor Development's vice-president of community development in Edmonton, suggested Wednesday that the executive committee direct city administration to ensure focus is on functional design.

Often, she said, this will require reducing policy requirements and "taking a more back-to-basics philosophy."

"Not every building must incorporate cutting-edge technology," Keating said.

The committee directed administration to analyze how the city's policies raised costs for the facilities highlighted in the report. The administrative report is due next spring.

David Lazenby, acting chief of Edmonton Fire Rescue Services, supports a change in approach. 

"If there are opportunities to build more affordable fire stations, we're certainly open to it," he said.

Ward Anirniq Coun. Erin Rutherford said council could take another look at how projects are built, given the city's rapidly growing population.

"If we could build two fire halls, or 1½ fire halls, for the cost of one, that's a big turnaround. That allows us a lot more room to grow," Rutherford said.