City of Regina looking for contractor to fill Capital Pointe hole

The City of Regina is looking for a contractor to fill the Capital Pointe hole at the corner of Victoria and Albert, a job it wants done by November. 

Details of the plan to backfill the site are contained in a request for proposals (RFP) posted Tuesday to the province's buying and selling website.

The documents outline the history of Capital Pointe — a proposed 27-storey luxury hotel and condo tower being developed Fortress Real Developments, which took over the project in 2014. 

Earlier this year, the city threatened it would issue a legal order to fill the hole if the developer failed to signal it would resume work on the project by March 30. 

When that deadline passed, the city did just that. The developer then filed an appeal. A hearing date for the appeal was tentatively set for July 24.

"While the appeal of the order is ongoing, the Saskatchewan Building and Accessibility Standards Appeal Board declined to grant the owner a stay of the order. The City, therefore, continues to have legal authority to proceed with the work," reads an email statement the city sent to CBC News on Tuesday. 

"The City will not be commenting further on either the request for proposals or the appeal which are part of the ongoing legal process."

The RFP says the city wants to have a contractor hired in August, with the backfilling completed by October 31. 

The potential contractor would be required to backfill the excavation, install sidewalks and remove temporary shoring, all while ensuring traffic is kept open around the area. 

According to the RFP, the city has two sources of material to fill the hole. One is 37,000 cubic metres of material located in a stockpile near the Callie Curling Club. The city is also making material available from the Fleet Street landfill. 

In a statement, a lawyer for the property owner, Westgate Properties, said the City is being "presumptuous" by hiring a contractor before the July 24 appeal hearing.

People had their first look at the Capital Point tower back in 2010, which was set to rise at the site of the Plains Hotel. The next year, the hotel was demolished. 

In the years that followed a groundbreaking ceremony took place and excavation got underway. However, the completion date was pushed back repeatedly. 

Currently, the site is a gaping hole.