The heartbeat of construction at the Delta Hotel site is as flat as the ground floor cement pad. It has been weeks since progress has been made on the project.
Concerns that behind the scenes the project was failing were addressed this week by main proponent Rod McLeod. He and co-developer Clint Dahl, doing business under the River City Hotel Management Corporation banner, said the stoppage at the work site was for reasons of progress, not regress.
"We only had firm design plans with the City of Prince George for the foundation work, to get the underground permits and all that subsurface work done. We are still working out the above-ground designs," said McLeod. "We would have had that underway by now but some exciting new developments have occurred for us, so we still have to finalize those details before we apply for the permits. It has to do with a whole other development, a second phase on the parcel of land next door to the construction zone."
Because the two projects are physically linked, he said, and because Delta Hotels (the hospitality company that has signed on to operate the facility once it is complete) has its own structural standards criteria, turning it from one development into two has caused a pause in the work right now.
The deals to bring the second development to life are still being negotiated, said McLeod and Dahl, so no details could be released yet.
"It's really, really cool, we can say that much," said Dahl. "I wish we could describe it right now, I'm so excited about it, but obviously we can't jump the gun like that."
"It could be some time before those designs are complete," said McLeod. "We only get one shot at this, so we have to be sure they are right, and then the city and Delta have to sign off on it. Connecting the two projects will require a lot of civil work and that will require a lot of dialogue with the planning department at City Hall."
McLeod and Dahl praised city staff for the work so far.
"We also had to work with the city on the Wholesale Sports development, and that was just amazing, City Hall was excellent to deal with on that, too," said Dahl.
The foundation work at the Delta Hotel site has been already approved by city inspectors so as soon as the new designs are vetted, they can begin construction again. There is no way of estimating when that will be, they said.
"I still have hopes that the hotel will be open in time for the Canada Winter Games but I won't be making any promises about that," said McLeod. "We are taking all the time necessary to make it happen correctly. You can't rush that sort of thing for short-term reasons."
