Cambridge architect hired for Arts Centre restoration
By Liz Dadson

Kincardine Town Council

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The Ventin Group of Cambridge has been hired as the architect for the Kincardine Arts Centre (old town hall) restoration project.

In committee-of-the-whole Wednesday night (Oct. 7), economic development and tourism manager Steve Murray told council that the municipality contacted or had contact from 10 architectural firms and received four submissions: Chamberlain Architects, McCallum Sather Architects, The Ventin Group Architects and Marklevitz Architects.

Four members of the arts centre resource group interviewed the companies and recommended The Ventin Group, at a cost of $59,587.50 plus $5,000 in disbursements. Kincardine is on the hook for one-third of the $1-million project, with the provincial and federal governments covering the rest.

"Do we have any details about why this firm was chosen?" asked councillor Kenneth Craig.

"Councillor Ron Hewitt was in on the interviews and said The Ventin Group 'blew him away'," said Murray.

"We just finished the addition at the Davidson Centre; wasn't The Ventin Group involved in that fiasco?" asked councillor Marsha Leggett.

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"The Ventin Group was the project architect for the addition," said chief administrative officer John deRosenroll. "The issues were with the ordering of steel and the contractor, not the architect. This project (arts centre restoration) must be completed in 12 months' time (as per the government funding)."

"I sat in on the request for proposals," said councillor Randy Roppel, "and I can assure you that if we thought that this company couldn't perform, we would not be recommending them. They are knowledgeable about similar projects, they have great ability, and the price was right."

"How was The Ventin Group to work with on the addition?" asked deputy mayor Laura Haight.

"We had no problem with them," said councillor Guy Anderson. "What caused the trouble was the steel supplier went bankrupt. Ventin then stepped in and worked with other suppliers to get things back on track. There were a series of calamities that delayed the addition at the Davidson Centre."

Later, in council session, the hiring was officially approved.

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Friday, October 09, 2009