It’s now been one year since any progress has been made building the new supportive living facility in Hythe. Ground broke on the 48-bed home in October of 2016 and at that time it was slated to open to residents by November 2017.
Pioneer Place had a budget of $11.4 million, of which $3.9 million was being covered by a provincial Affordable Supportive Living Initiative grant. CAO of Pioneer Home, the existing the continuing care facility, Dalvin Napen says there’s a number of reasons why construction of the new Pioneer Place stopped.
“The main reason for the delay is that Ladacor, our main contractor, was put under a receivership order in May 2018 and work stopped while the receiver took control of the site. Unfortunately, during this delay, the unfinished roof led to water damage during the rainstorms last summer.”
According to Insolvency Insider, Calgary-based Ladacor was placed into receivership on May 18, 2018, after going into debt to the tune of $4.7 million. The business has since closed its doors.
Pioneer Place was set to be built out of shipping containers behind Pioneer Home. Napen says Ladacor told him it would be 30 to 50 per cent faster to build that way, but as of May 2019 tarps are still covering the shell of the structure. Currently, no work is being done on the facility and Napen says he doesn’t know when it could start again.
“We have not been able to complete the building while negotiations are underway with the receiver and our insurance company. We know that this project is of great importance to the community of Hythe and the surrounding communities. We are working diligently to forge a path to see this project finished.”
MyGrandePrairieNow.com has reached out Ladacor for comment but it has declined.