SASKATOON -- Soaring building supply costs have caused the Rose Garden Hospice (RGH) Association in Prince Albert to scale back the building plans for the hospice construction.

The architectural plans were drawn up prior to COVID-19, says building committee member and board member Don Dashchuk.

“With COVID-19 we found that the prices have jumped dramatically,” said Dashchuk.

RGH budgeted $4 million for the construction of the building. Instead of increasing the budget, board members decided to scale back the building.

They removed plans for a basement and will instead have a crawl space. And they changed the heating, ventilation and air conditioning system to a different system.

“We just cut it down to the barebones. We needed to keep the building the size we need and the structure to be a quality structure but any extras we’ve cut,” said Dashchuk.

He says 3/8-inch OSB sheeting for building was originally quoted at $9.05 before the pandemic, and now it costs $41.75.

“Studs for framing were $3.70, and now they $10.86 so they’ve tripled in price,” said Dashchuk. “So these are some of the challenges we are trying to over.”

Jim Brown, a senior drafting technologist from Prakash Consulting Ltd has gotten involved with RGH Association. On Friday, Prakash Consulting donated $15,000 to the RGH Association and made a commitment to oversee the construction administration and inspections of the building.

“We are putting in extra time and everything on this program to see it through,” said Brown.

The owner of Prakash Consulting, Ravi Prakash, says with the current demands on health care and population of the area he could see the hospice growing in the future.

“We have 10 rooms there now but it could go a little bigger,” Prakash.

So far, the RGH Association hospice has fundraised $2.6 million of the $4 million needed to build the hospice. Dashuck says the board is still fundraising to meet their target and is accepting in-kind donations of products and services.

RGH Association plans to start construction once the ground thaws this spring. It’s been fundraising and lobbying for hospice care in area since 2008.