The Reeve for Hanover says though construction costs ran higher than expected, the municipality now has a beautiful new daycare in Kleefeld.
It was in February 2023 that Kleefeld was awarded a new daycare through a joint provincial/ federal announcement. The original promise was for a 74-space daycare, which eventually grew by 30 spots.
It was announced that through this initiative, the Rural Municipality of Hanover would own the building, provide maintenance, and not charge rent for at least 15 years. The daycare would be a ready-to-move building supplied by the upper levels of government.
Hanover Reeve Jim Funk admits that when Hanover first put its name in the running for a daycare the municipality did not know exactly how much it would cost. He notes they were advised that it would be their responsibility to have the site prepared for construction.
"But time did not permit us to get quotes on the cost as the deadline for the applications, the timing was very tight," he says.
Funk notes they were told to expect to pay for utility connections and any additional change orders. Early on, the change orders had to do with paving the entire parking lot, rather than just a portion in front of the daycare.
Funk says the daycare was originally expected to cost $5,615,000. This cost would be covered by the upper levels of government and did not include additional expenses by the RM. He notes by the time construction started, they had not yet secured estimates for the remainder of the work which fell within the scope of the municipality. Funk says this was due to the tight application deadline.
Here we are in early spring, and Funk says the total cost of the project will end up being just over $6 million, which includes additional costs incurred by the municipality. For example, Funk says paving the remainder of the parking lot and adding more lighting cost them about $198,000. Funk says they had anticipated being able to use interest earned from the grant funding, but that was declined.
Funk says in the final stages of construction, the building failed to receive its occupancy certificate, as it failed inspection for fire code due to a door. In addition, Funk says the building failed to meet the requirements to operate a daycare facility due to several doors. The total corrections cost $4,210. The corrections were deemed to be change orders and therefore were not reimbursed.
When all is said and done, Funk says Hanover paid about $295,000 for the daycare.
"Our initial cost in it is very little for what we actually got," he says.
Funk says the extra costs have not been a burden.
"At the end of the day, we have a very nice facility there and it is pennies to the dollar," adds Funk. "The municipality is far further ahead despite all the overruns and challenges with that project."
Funk refers to the daycare as a "good asset" and great for the community and surrounding area.
Putting things into perspective, Funk says back in 2018 they built their new fire hall in Blumenort at a fraction of the cost of the Kleefeld daycare. He notes they spent $2.5 million to construct the 6,500-square-foot building, purchase three fire trucks and turnout gear for all firefighters, buy the land, and pave the parking lot.
Meanwhile, even though construction costs for the daycare ran higher than expected, Hanover Administration says this is in no part the fault of Happy Hive, noting their directors have been fantastic to work with.