Mile One upgrades to cost millions more than expected

The cost of upgrading equipment on the roof of Mile One Centre in downtown St. John's is going to be much pricier than first thought. 

Coun. Danny Breen said replacing the air handling equipment will cost $5.9 million, and not the original projection of $3.5 million.

Breen said the original plan was to replace four air-handling units with three dehumidification units and one air-handling unit.

However it's been suggested that the city actually go with dehumidification units for all four, to prevent air quality problems for affecting events in the future.

"The loss of those units could be catastrophic business-wise in the facility," he told CBC's St. John's Morning Show.

"You take something like the Brier, if we were to host that."

Other repairs on agenda

Along with replacing the units, the city will also have to make some structural upgrades so that the equipment can be secured properly to the roof.

Mile One is currently also undergoing a major energy overhaul, with the building being made more energy efficient. For example, lighting in the building will be replaced with LED lights, a move that will pay for itself in seven or eight years, according to Breen.

All of that maintenance, combined with a poor exchange rate with the United States, drove the total cost up to $5.9 million.

To pay for the repairs, Breen said money will be temporarily taken from $13 million that was put aside for future work on the city's Mews Community Centre.

"We wouldn't be spending that money in the next year or 18 months or so," he said.

"So rather than have that sitting in an account to wait, we're recommending we take $2.9 million out of that, pay towards this, and then our next round of gas tax money we put towards the Mews Centre."