Saskatoon's Remai Modern build went $8M over budget, museum has roof problems: report

Construction on Saskatoon's Remai Modern art museum went more than $8 million over budget and the building currently has problems with its roof, according to a city report.

City administration blames much of the cost overrun on the design of the museum and says there is an outstanding legal claim against the architectural firm Smith Carter Architects and Engineers Inc. — now operating as Architecture49.

"Resolution of this claim has taken substantially longer than anticipated," the report says. Another claim involving construction firm EllisDon has been settled, according to the report.

The museum, which opened in 2017, had a final cost of $92.1 million, the report says.

A previous report prepared shortly before the museum opened initially estimated the cost overrun at somewhere between $2.5 million and $4.5 million.

However, the newest report says the total has escalated since then because "additional costs were incurred related to claims preparation and repair of some building deficiencies that were not able to be attributed to contractor or designer failure."

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The report says "deficiencies" were found in the museum's roof and that some repairs have been completed but more work is needed.

"A comprehensive roof condition assessment is being undertaken to evaluate the condition of the ... building’s roofing system to develop a long-term phased approach to managing the asset. The assessment will also include an investigation into the viability of solar panels and other 'green' roof options," the report says.

In the report, administration asks city council to approve a "financial closeout" to get the project off the city's books due to the time it's taking to resolve its legal claim.

City administration proposes shuffling money from five different city budget lines to cover the shortfall so the project can be closed out.

Any cash obtained through litigation would be funnelled back into the budget line dedicated to civic facilities, the report says.

Following the construction of the Remai, the city changed its approach to handling large civic projects, according to the report.

The report says the city has taken steps such as altering its approach to budgeting to better deal with unforeseen changes and moving project oversight in-house instead of relying on third-party consultants.

The report will be up for discussion during a May 17 council committee meeting.