THUNDER BAY – The Canadian Lakehead Exhibition has its clean-up orders in hand and its board of directors is hopeful the former Sportsdome site will be cleaned up by the end of June.
Board president Al Law on Thursday confirmed the City of Thunder Bay’s bylaw enforcement office has ordered them to clean-up the mess left behind when the dome collapsed in November 2016, giving them until the end of the month.
That’s not realistic and city officials are aware they’ll likely need more time to complete the request for proposal process and have the work begin.
Earlier this year Law said the CLE won a judgment allowing them to terminate the lease with the Sportdome’s ownership group, citing non-payment required under the lease.
The order came as welcome news, Law said.
“It gives us the impetus to push through the work with our lawyer, because we want it cleaned up,” he said. “It’s a very frustrating process that we’ve gone through.”
Law estimated the cost to clean up the site to be between $150,000 and $200,000, but said that number could change.
There’s also an opportunity for the successful bidder to recoup some of their costs through the salvation and repurposing and recycling of materials from the site, which has been a haven for birds, rodents and even people since the wintry collapse.
“There’s steel, there’s still half a field there. We’re not too sure about the mechanical side – there’s been a year-and-a-half exposure – to see if it’s any good. It could be more, it could be less. Until you get the bids and get an idea of what it is, but in the end, initially the CLE’s going to have to pay,” Law said.
He added they’re hoping to recoup some costs through the Sportsdome’s insurance coverage, but he’s not holding out too much hope to that end.
Law said the city order specifies the material must be taken to a designated landfill and it calls for the site to be remediated to its original state.
He’s hopeful there’s some wiggle room.
“The enforcement officers we met, they know we only want it cleaned up to the footings because structurally, or through an engineer, there’s a good chance whoever ends up building there may be able to utilize those footings,” Law said.
“To remove the footings, you’ll probably double or trip that cost.”
