September 9, 1997
(Works, Services and Transportation)

First contract awarded for new Janeway Children's Health and Rehabilitation Centre

Works, Services and Transportation Minister Lloyd Matthews today announced that the first contract has been awarded for the new Janeway Children's Health and Rehabilitation Centre.

Pyramid Construction Limited of St. John's has been awarded a $4,236,000 contract for site development, services and foundations for the new centre. Work is scheduled to begin in the next two weeks and is to be completed within 10 months.

The total cost of the Janeway Children's Health and Rehabilitation Centre project is expected to be approximately $70 million. The project is one of three under the Site Redevelopment Plan of the St. John's Health Care Corporation. The other two projects cover renovations at the Health Science and St. Clare's sites.

Following discussions between the Health Care Corporation and the province, it was agreed that Works, Services and Transportation would assume overall responsibility for the physical construction and renovations of these facilities and for the capital projects budget. The Health Care Corporation will ensure that work meets all requirements and that the building and renovations are functionally acceptable.

The department will oversee the work of the project consultants for both the new building and the renovations. Health Care Design Consultants has been selected for the child health centre portion of the project. The prime consultants for both the St. Clare's project and Heath Science project are expected to be announced before the end of September.

A budget of $130 million has been approved for all three projects.

Contact: Rick Callahan, Director of Communications, (709) 729-4860.

NOTE TO EDITORS: An architectural rendering of the new centre is available on government's web site at www.gov.nl.ca under News Releases.