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bilko@rgcmail.com Vol.21 No.6
Wednesday, May 10, 2017
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9,000 sq. ft. change a "mistake" or "improvement"?
Column Six Beneath the surface
Pelham Councillor calls on architect to explain how design discrepancy occurred
Life lessons learned in Cuba
BY VOICE STAFF In response to Pelham CAO Darren Ottaway’s report to Council at the May 1 Committee of the Whole meeting, Councillor Marvin Junkin brought up one of the public’s main concerns raised during the Town’s recent “Evening with the Experts” — the additional 9,000 square-feet needed to improve the functionality of the new Community Centre. Expressing his frustration with the need to alter the approved design by Petroff Architects and the public’s perception that the Town was responsible for what he believes was a mistake by Petroff, Junkin explained why this issue has been stuck in his craw. “In April [2016], we voted on this building and passed it at $36.2 million, and just four short months later we found out that they made a 9,000-square-feet mistake, that luckily was caught by Ball Construction,” he said. “God knows what kind of a mess we would have ended up with if it hadn’t been for Ball Construction finding this. So here we have a company that we paid $1.8 million over two years to design a facility and they make a mistake this big.” “I’m not sure it was a mistake, Councillor,” interjected Mayor Augustyn. “If they designed something too small that isn’t go-
BY NATE SMELLE
The VOICE
ing to be of any use, I would think it was a mistake,” replied Junkin.
I
There have been no warts added to the building Explorer and author Adam Shoalts, on an earlier journey.
SUPPLIED PHOTO
Crossing the Arctic for Canada's 150th Junkin maintains the Town should not have to bear responsibility for the alterations made to the Centre’s design simply to make it functional. From his perspective, Petroff Architects should have designed the space appropriately from the start. Junkin proposed that Council draft a letter to the architectural firm requesting an explanation as to why they failed to recognize the need for the additional space in the original plans. “I don’t know how you can say it was not a mistake when if we would have built it [according to the original plans], we would have regretted it,”
Pelham native prepares to embark on five-month solo journey across Canada's most hostile terrain
See LETTER Page 3
See SHOALTS back page
BY NATE SMELLE
The VOICE
While many Canadians will be celebrating Canada’s 150th birthday watching fireworks or taking in live music with family and friends, explorer and author Adam Shoalts has decided to celebrate solo. After learning how teams of canoeists paddled and portaged from Vancouver to Halifax to honour Canada’s Centennial year in 1967, Shoalts came up with the idea to celebrate his homeland’s birthday in an extraordinary way. Shoalts’ tribute to Canada begins this coming Saturday, when he flies from Toronto to Whitehorse, before travelling north to the remote community of Old Crow. From there, he plans to embark on a five-month solo expedition through the Canadian arctic.
Recognizing there was not nearly as much wilderness remaining along the southern canoe route from Vancouver to Halifax as there was 50 years ago, Shoalts set his sights on Canada’s north. “I thought, well, I’ll do the same thing, but I’ll do it in the north and try to cross the length and breadth of all three of Canada’s arctic territories — the Yukon, the Northwest Territories, and Nunavut,” he said. “In doing so, I hope to inspire Canadians to think more about Canada’s wilderness and our north, and what kind of future it is going to have over the next 150 years. Ev-
DEBBIE PINE
See COLUMN SIX Page 18
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NIAGARA / FONTHILL, ON Cremation/Burial
ARRIVED AT THE Barracuda Dive Centre in Varadero, Cuba just before 9:30 AM one Saturday last month, ready to wet my whistle with the wildness lurking beneath the waves. Loading our gear onto the bus, we took our seats and began the journey south to the dive site at Playa Girón (a.k.a., the Bay of Pigs). Taking in the scenery along the route over the next three hours, I started to notice similarities among each of the rural villages we travelled through. For instance, every community was surrounded by an organic wall of fruit trees and flowering shrubs. Many of the homes had fruit stands filled with plump produce, likely harvested from their sellers’ front lawns, which were covered with foodscaping. Most of the parks and public spaces featured community gardens packed with people engaged in conversation. There was also an absence of commercialization intruding on the aesthetic appeal of these communities. Not to say there wasn’t a selection of signage adorning the roadside. In fact, there were quite a few bill-
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