New Windsor City Hall to cost $4M more than originally 'guesstimated'

The new Windsor City Hall will cost approximately $4 million more than the $34.7 million originally thought.

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"There's no specific amount attached but we know from the report we were given [Wednesday] it's a little over $4 million that would be needed to construct the new city hall," Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens said. "We haven't tendered it yet, so we expect when it goes to tender there will be additional costs in and around $4 million to construct the new city hall."

It could have been over budget by even more had the New City Hall Steering Committee not removed or changed some 50 design items, including the removal of exterior pillars and the lowering of ceiling height.

"In order to get down to that [additional] $4 million mark, we had to remove some things from the original design. Had we not done that, we would have been a whole lot over … millions and millions of dollars," Dilkens  said. "It won't inhibit the functionality of the building."

Original cost 'guesstimated' by staff, council

Dilkens said staff and the previous council "guesstimated what the cost would be" for a new city hall.

"We didn't have the benefit of a cost consultant at that time," Dilkens said.

The city is now working with a cost consultant.

"We don't' want this to be a Taj Mahal. It won't be a Taj Mahal," Dilkens said. "It's not an iconic building, it's not a flashy building. It's a very functional building."

The recommendation to increase the budget goes before council in June.

Preliminary drawings for Windsor's new city hall were revealed in March.

Plans include:

• closing down a section of a road to link the future building with existing building.
• located above two parking lots.
• five stories high.
• about 100,000 square feet (current city hall has only 65,000 square feet).
• more user-friendly city hall.
• first two floors used for one-stop customer service.
• remaining three floors for administration.

The city hopes to break ground later this fall, though the $34.7 million building won't be ready for move-in until April 2018.