[Dmajackson]

Ingonish, NS:

Proposed federal building in Ingonish on hold

By The Canadian Press
Sat. Aug 16 - 4:46 AM

INGONISH — A federal government building that was expected to house offices for Parks Canada, RCMP and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans in Ingonish is over budget and won’t be built this year, so now it’s back to the drawing board, says a senior official with Parks Canada.

Tim Reynolds, superintendent for the Cape Breton Highlands National Park, told the Cape Breton Post on Thursday the multimillion-dollar project went to tender in late June.

But when contractors bid on the work the lowest tender received by Parks Canada would have forced the project into red ink.

"The tender received was over the estimated price that we thought it would be," Reynolds said. "(It) would have made the cost of the project higher than Parks Canada’s spending authority."

Parks Canada’s spending authority is capped at $10 million. Anything above that would require going through another Treasury Board of Canada review process — an exercise that would further delay the much-needed building that would include a new visitor’s centre and new offices for the three agencies involved