The County of Simcoe has officially been given the green light to move forward with construction on its Simcoe Village campus project in Beeton at a cost of more than $300 million.
County councillors were offered a brief update during today's committee of the whole meeting, where they learned the province recently provided its approval to continue on the project. It will include 160 long-term care beds and more than 180 seniors housing units/homes, including more than 140 new units for seniors with varying levels of care and support needs.
“The report outlines a number of key aspects of our Simcoe Village redevelopment. First and foremost, we are continuing to work well with the province and received recent approval to proceed with construction of the long-term care home,” Jane Sinclair, the county’s general manager of health and emergency services, explained on Oct. 24.
There are various approvals required throughout the process of redevelopment of the long-term care home, she added.
To date, 80,000 truckloads of soil have been delivered to site, which is located about 50 kilometres southwest of Barrie, and soil-monitoring equipment has been in place.
“You can start to see the foundations in the first buildings that will be constructed, so we are proceeding with the foundation for the long-term care, the village campus and the third building at this time. It’s very exciting to move forward with,” Sinclair said.
The report to county council also included an update on costing for the project, which was initially approved at $311 million.
Council learned in June that, due to continued construction instability, the project would cost significantly more, with cost consultants and the county’s construction team recommending to include another 17 per cent for potential project increases.
“We will be coming forward during budget deliberations to recommend an additional contingency, which was mapped out in the June 2023 report of another 13 per cent,” Sinclair said. “We have a number of tenders underway at this point and hope to have results of that process by the end of the year, after which point (we) will have a better understanding of construction costs.”
In the meantime, staff continue work on communications and the development of a fundraising program, said Sinclair, and are looking to confirm an honorary chair for the fundraising campaign.
The county has also hired a fundraising consultant to assist with raising $6.2 million toward the cost of the project.
As for the project’s timeline, Sinclair said it’s currently meeting all key milestones.
“Things are moving very well with the project,” she said.
The overall construction schedule remains “status quo” with a target occupancy for Simcoe Manor, Village Centre and the supportive/affordable housing building of October 2026 with occupancy of the life lease/market rental building, co-housing, garden and townhomes following in 2027.
