Clark Builders takes over completion of Grande Prairie hospital

Clark Builders has been chosen to take over as construction manager of the new regional hospital in Grande Prairie.

The Edmonton-based construction firmwas chosen after Alberta Infrastructure removed Graham Construction from the project in September following a bitter and public dispute over cost overruns and construction delays.

The province invited companies to bid on the project. Clark Builders was chosen as the successful bidder this week, Alberta Infrastructure said Friday.

• Contractor fires back in bitter dispute over Grande Prairie hospital project
• Province halts construction on Grande Prairie hospital, dismisses contractor

Construction on the Grande Prairie Regional Hospital is expected to ramp up in early 2019.

The province is giving Clark Builders time to reactivate the site and to finalize contracts with its sub-trades. The government expects 300 to 400 tradespeople will be employed.

A new schedule for completing the project will be nailed down in the next few months. The exterior of the hospital is complete and about three-quarters of the work is complete inside.

Infrastructure Minister Sandra Jansen tweeted Friday about the selection of Clark Builders for the project.

The new Grande Prairie hospital has been in either the planning or construction phase since 2011. The hospital, now slated to cost $763 million, was originally expected to be operational by the end of 2018 or early in 2019.

The government isn't expecting to allocate additional money for the new contract.

Graham Construction said it planned to take the matter to court but it wasn't known at time of writing whether a statement of claim has been filed against the Alberta government.