Laval's Place Bell arena to cost $50M more in overruns

Lavals new Place Bell arena will cost double its original estimate because of costs not factored in by the city's previous administration, said Mayor Marc Demers.

Former mayor Gilles Vaillancourt in 2012 announced the arena would cost $92.6 million. He then revised the estimate nearly a year later to $150 million.

Today Demers announced the 10,000-seat arena would actually cost $200 million.

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The current mayor said Laval residents deserveto know the truth on the cost overruns the former administration hid from them. He said Vaillancourts plan neglected to take into consideration the creationor cost of parking ($20 million) and the cost of making space for businesses inside the arena ($8 million).

Demers said Vaillancourt also lowballed the cost of the building itself ($130 million, up $10 million from the previous announcement) and the cost of specialized equipment ($42 million, up $8 million from the original estimate).

Demershas now asked the Quebec government to contribute more to the building of the arena. In a release, he said the province hasonly committed to kicking in $46 million so far.

Demersis demanding the province pay 50 per cent of the costs, as it has done for similar projects in Quebec City and Trois-Rivires.