The people managing Burnaby Hospital’s $1.4-billion redevelopment project are looking to move into new offices after a suspicious fire at the hospital destroyed their last ones nine months ago.
The redevelopment team had been housed in the Cascade Building when a fire broke out on Nov. 15.
The blaze started in a common area or recreation room on the second floor of the Cascade Building, which had housed the mental health and substance use units, and police later determined it had been deliberately set.
The damage to the Cascade Building was “too substantial to repair,” according to Fraser Health, and the redevelopment team has been working remotely and sharing a few spaces at the hospital on a rotating basis for nine months now.
It now has its eye on office space in the nearby Kodak Building at 4225 Kincaid St., according to an invitation to tender put out by Facilities Management, an entity that provides management services for Fraser Health, Providence Health Care Society, Provincial Health Services Authority and Vancouver Coastal Health Authority.
The redevelopment team is looking to relocate to a 5,000-square-foot space on the fifth floor of the Kodak Building, according the Facilities Management documents.
The space will accommodate more than 36 staff with “ample meeting space,” the documents say.
Fire or no fire, the team had planned to relocate eventually, according to Fraser Health, since the Cascade Building and west wing are slated for demolition to make room for Phase 2 of the massive project.
But a health authority spokesperson did not respond to questions about the cost of the new Kodak Building office space or the length of the lease.
“Details on the relocation are still being finalized,” read an emailed satement.
The Burnaby Hospital redevelopment project, approved by the province in September 2019, reached a major milestone in July, when EllisDon Infrastructure was awarded the contract to undertake Phase 1, which includes designing and building the new Keith and Betty Beedie Pavilion, expanding the support facilities building and renovating the existing buildings on campus.
The Beedie Pavilion and support facilities building are scheduled to be complete in 2025.
The renovations are expected to be complete in 2027.
Phase 2, which includes a second patient-care tower with 160 beds and a new cancer treatment centre, is expected to begin in 2025 once a business plan has been approved.
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