Great news – the contract for the redevelopment has been awarded and works will commence on 3 February. The current plan is that the boathouse will be completed in September, ready for next season.
It has been a busy few weeks:
– Works were tendered in November / December and shortlisted prior to Christmas. Lloyd group was awarded the contract in early January
– We had to work really hard to get DEPI and City of Melbourne to give the RRC-MLC Lease priority and sign it off. They finally did so and we received our fully executed documents and DEPI letter of approval on 22 December.
– We obtained Ministerial Approval for the building works, again getting the DEPI letter of approval on 22 December.
– Together with MLC we have finalised an agreement between RRC, MLC and the builder that governs how the building project will be managed and the novation of the architects contract to MLC.
Current plan is for the building contract to be signed on Tuesday 28 January. MLC will be the signatory to this contract as they are providing the full funding for the next stage of the project. Until now, RRC and MLC have funded the preliminary work 50:50 and RRC has held the contract with the architects.
The broad program of works is now drafted and will be published after the committee meeting on Thursday. The plan is broadly to do the front stairs first, then build the 2 new boat bays and then do the works to join the 2 halves together.
Access is likely to be maintained almost throughout the program. There will be a period of a few weeks in winter when there will be no access (and alternative plans will be provided) while the building is finished as the builder needs access to the hall and changerooms to do this.
Our thanks to the RRC team and the MLC team who have worked tirelessly together to make this happen. Thanks also to our City of Melbourne counterparts for their support and FMSA Architects for their dedication to the project.
Look for weekly updates on the building works and any implications for access / training here on the blog.