Councillor Bill Farren says there’s inconsistencies between reports dated in 2007 and the report staff gave common council last year, involving what upgrades were needed to save the Falls Restaurant.
Farren says a number of the items city staff cited as part of the costs to save the building were already completed at the taxpayers’ expense.
He says they were inflating the price to redo the building, which came out to $750,000 at hard cost, but last night’s council meeting it was said it would cost $2 million dollars.
Farren says it just “doesn’t add up”.
He calls it “funny” that the Exhibition Association had another building going up within six months of tearing down the Simonds Arena.
Farren says it was odd when a city worker wanted to take some of the electrical equipment out of the Falls Restaurant building when the plan was to tear the it down.
He says the variances between the reports doesn’t add up and it doesn’t sit well with him.
Trevor Gamblin is the Manager of Saint John’s facility management division.
Gamblin says the staff report included other upgrades like plumbing, electrical and other building systems that were left out of the report in 2007.
He says that’s where the $750,000 needed for upgrades came from.
