The contractor for the John Hart Generating Station replacement project wants to use the old Campbellton school for construction offices.
The school field would be converted into a parking lot for the workers, with a bus drop-off and pick-up area to shuttle workers to and from the construction site.
“Due to the limited space around the John Hart Generating Station replacement project, no construction workers will be permitted to park directly at the construction site,” Kathleen Wilker, city planner, wrote in a report to council.
“In order to accommodate the parking requirements of this large construction project, ASL JV (contractor Aecon SNC-Lavalin Joint Venture) has decided to provide an off-site parking area at this site and then bus the workers up to the site.”
Wilker said the contractor’s intention is to bring in multiple trailers to create an office complex. The trailers would be converted into meeting rooms, project offices and washroom facilities.
“The trailers are proposed to be temporary in nature, being on site for approximately five years or to the life of the project, therefore there are no building foundations being proposed,” Wilker said.
The only disturbance to the ground will be the digging of various small trenches throughout the site in order to install pipes and electrical conduits for the trailers and on-site lighting.
Because the Haig-Brown/Kingfisher Creek runs parallel to the west boundary of the site, an environmental assessment and report has been done on the site in order to assess potential impacts on the creek.
Wilker said the report recommends features to protect the stream channel and wetlands.
“As the location of the trailer complex is outside the (protected environmental area) the environmental professional concludes that most effective mitigation measures will be to replant the area with vegetation found in a riparian ecosystem,” Wilker said.
As the project could last between five to seven years, Wilker said ASL JV has been working with the city to ensure the look of the site conforms to the commercial form and character guidelines within the city’s official community plan.
The billion-dollar John Hart replacement project, which will see a new generating station built underground and the three penstocks that carry the city’s drinking water replaced with an underground tunnel, is in the preliminary stages.
Blasting is underway and is expected to continue until November to make way for the underground infrastructure.