Paradise awards boathouse design

By Mark Squibb/December 9, 2022

The Town of Paradise is one step closer to completing a long-promised community boathouse on Octagon Pond.

During this past week’s meeting, council voted unanimously to award the tender for design services for the new boathouse to All North Consultants Inc. at a price of $211,589, inclusive of HST.

All told, the Town received three proposals, which were ranked on technical and financial merits, with the technical aspect forming the lion’s share (75 percent) of the evaluation criteria.

All North scored 57.84 out of 75 on the technical score, and 24.40 out of 25 for the financial score, for a total score of 82.24 out of 100.

Another tender came in around $206,500, but had a less impressive technical score, while a third boasted a higher technical score — but also a much higher price point, coming in at $473,800.

Since at least 2021, the Town has been working in consultation with the Avalon Dragons, a breast cancer survivor dragon boat team formed in 2006, on development of the boathouse, of which the Dragons would be the primary, though not sole, tenant.

The tender was discussed in committee back in October, but Infrastructure and engineering committee chairperson Deborah Quilty said the item was deferred until budget consultations were completed.

As per Budget 2023, the Town hopes to finalize the design of the boathouse during the 2023 calendar year.

Prior to the vote, councillor Larry Vaters noted he had inquired of staff regarding sightlines, and that based on the information provided, there would be no sightline issues regarding entering or exiting the proposed site.

Councillor Patrick Martin noted he was very pleased to see council moving ahead with the project.