- 注册
- 2002-10-07
- 消息
- 402,217
- 荣誉分数
- 76
- 声望点数
- 0
The cost of fixing up 24 Sussex Dr. today is almost certainly higher than the $10 million estimate made by the National Capital Commission in 2008, experts say — possibly millions more.
“All of your inflationary numbers would need to be plugged into that,” said Mark Brandt, senior conservation architect and urbanist at MTBA Associates Inc.
Construction costs have risen by about 15 per cent since 2008, pushing the original estimate up by at least $1.5 million.
As well, there’s a “high likelihood” that the delay in performing work deemed urgent in 2008 by then auditor-general Sheila Fraser has caused further degradation to the building, Brandt said. “There’s an increasing scale of degradation the longer you go.”
Moreover, the 2008 estimate did not include any security upgrades — something likely to be a high priority in the aftermath of last year’s attack on Parliament Hill.
Those “unbelievable” security needs are very costly, Brandt said. “I would expect they would now have to be added to the overall cost.”
Former senator Hugh Segal, now master of Massey College in Toronto, said the house’s plumbing and electrical systems “are bordering on the unsafe.
“I think everybody’s of the view, including the most penurious on the right wing, that this is the chance for the NCC to get it in shipshape,” Segal said.
The future of 24 Sussex became a hot topic after prime minister-designate Justin Trudeau’s mother, Margaret, said last week her son’s family would not move into the official residence until it was repaired.
Then Monday, the NCC announced that Trudeau and his family will live in Rideau Cottage, on the grounds of Rideau Hall, until he can be briefed about the options for renovations at 24 Sussex.
According to a report in the Huffington Post, one option developed by the NCC would transform 24 Sussex into a working residence, similar to the White House, with offices for staff from the prime minister’s office and privy council office. That would cost $150 million, the website reported.
The NCC wouldn’t comment on that report Tuesday. But the commission’s advisory committee on official residences brainstormed ideas for 24 Sussex and other official residences last year, and the idea of a “White House North” wasn’t among them.
And no one approached by the Citizen — including Segal and Derek Burney, both former chiefs of staff to Brian Mulroney — had ever heard of a White House North plan.
Segal said there was some discussion — including during Stephen Harper’s time as prime minister — about transforming the National Research Council’s headquarters at 100 Sussex Dr. into a combination official residence and office for the prime minister’s staff.
But the idea never went anywhere largely because that sort of arrangement was seen as too presidential, he said.
Any attempt to turn 24 Sussex into a northern White House would provoke “some very strong resistance from heritage people,” said Ken Elder, a retired conservation architect and board member at Heritage Ottawa.
“That’s not going to happen,” he said. “There’s too much significance to the building.”
Burney, a former Canadian ambassador to the United States, said a good argument could be made for demolishing the current building and “starting anew.
“Think of our spectacular embassies in Washington and Tokyo, both designed by Canadian architects, not Public Works,” he said in an email.
“The only time for a bold initiative that serves the future of Canada, not always the past is, in my view, right now. Give one smart person the task and get on with it.”
Also Tuesday, the Sierra Club Canada Foundation called on Trudeau to announce that 24 Sussex would be a “net zero” heritage retrofit. Net zero means the building would produce as much energy as it consumes by 2050 or sooner.
“Think of the lasting, iconic impact of a heritage retrofit done right, a building that has great meaning in Canada’s history and could become an emblem for the country’s low-carbon future,” the group said in proposing its “audacious plan.”
dbutler@ottawacitizen.com
twitter.com/ButlerDon
查看原文...
“All of your inflationary numbers would need to be plugged into that,” said Mark Brandt, senior conservation architect and urbanist at MTBA Associates Inc.
Construction costs have risen by about 15 per cent since 2008, pushing the original estimate up by at least $1.5 million.
As well, there’s a “high likelihood” that the delay in performing work deemed urgent in 2008 by then auditor-general Sheila Fraser has caused further degradation to the building, Brandt said. “There’s an increasing scale of degradation the longer you go.”
Moreover, the 2008 estimate did not include any security upgrades — something likely to be a high priority in the aftermath of last year’s attack on Parliament Hill.
Those “unbelievable” security needs are very costly, Brandt said. “I would expect they would now have to be added to the overall cost.”
Former senator Hugh Segal, now master of Massey College in Toronto, said the house’s plumbing and electrical systems “are bordering on the unsafe.
“I think everybody’s of the view, including the most penurious on the right wing, that this is the chance for the NCC to get it in shipshape,” Segal said.
The future of 24 Sussex became a hot topic after prime minister-designate Justin Trudeau’s mother, Margaret, said last week her son’s family would not move into the official residence until it was repaired.
Then Monday, the NCC announced that Trudeau and his family will live in Rideau Cottage, on the grounds of Rideau Hall, until he can be briefed about the options for renovations at 24 Sussex.
According to a report in the Huffington Post, one option developed by the NCC would transform 24 Sussex into a working residence, similar to the White House, with offices for staff from the prime minister’s office and privy council office. That would cost $150 million, the website reported.
The NCC wouldn’t comment on that report Tuesday. But the commission’s advisory committee on official residences brainstormed ideas for 24 Sussex and other official residences last year, and the idea of a “White House North” wasn’t among them.
And no one approached by the Citizen — including Segal and Derek Burney, both former chiefs of staff to Brian Mulroney — had ever heard of a White House North plan.
Segal said there was some discussion — including during Stephen Harper’s time as prime minister — about transforming the National Research Council’s headquarters at 100 Sussex Dr. into a combination official residence and office for the prime minister’s staff.
But the idea never went anywhere largely because that sort of arrangement was seen as too presidential, he said.
Any attempt to turn 24 Sussex into a northern White House would provoke “some very strong resistance from heritage people,” said Ken Elder, a retired conservation architect and board member at Heritage Ottawa.
“That’s not going to happen,” he said. “There’s too much significance to the building.”
Burney, a former Canadian ambassador to the United States, said a good argument could be made for demolishing the current building and “starting anew.
“Think of our spectacular embassies in Washington and Tokyo, both designed by Canadian architects, not Public Works,” he said in an email.
“The only time for a bold initiative that serves the future of Canada, not always the past is, in my view, right now. Give one smart person the task and get on with it.”
Also Tuesday, the Sierra Club Canada Foundation called on Trudeau to announce that 24 Sussex would be a “net zero” heritage retrofit. Net zero means the building would produce as much energy as it consumes by 2050 or sooner.
“Think of the lasting, iconic impact of a heritage retrofit done right, a building that has great meaning in Canada’s history and could become an emblem for the country’s low-carbon future,” the group said in proposing its “audacious plan.”
dbutler@ottawacitizen.com
twitter.com/ButlerDon
查看原文...
