Released on January 27, 2012
The Ministry of Government Services announced today that the old Provincial Laboratory located at 3211 Albert Street will be deconstructed beginning in February, which will assist government in reducing its footprint and costs.
The former Provincial Laboratory has been replaced by the new Saskatchewan Disease Control Laboratory located at Innovation Place. The costs associated with rehabilitation of this more than 50 year old building and removing the contaminants were too high to consider reusing this facility for another program.
"The process will begin in two weeks to deconstruct the old Provincial Laboratory," Government Services Minister Laura Ross said. "The removal of this facility allows government to turn back green space to Wascana Park, reduce our overall footprint and save costs on maintenance and operation."
Total cost of the project is $4.8 million and includes replacing a loading dock and a heating system for Lloyd Place, as Lloyd Place shares a loading dock with the old lab and accesses heat through a central tunnel system - both of which are being removed during deconstruction. It also includes services to properly deconstruct the building, remove all contaminants and reduce the size of the parking lot around the two buildings.
"With the building of the new Saskatchewan Disease Control Laboratory, we have state of the art testing capability available for the people of Saskatchewan," Ross said. "The old lab building is past its useful life and Government Services will ensure the building is removed in a responsible fashion, taking care to recycle building material, carefully remove contaminants and return the space to a natural state."
Deconstruction refers to taking down the building in a way that recycles as much of the building material as possible and diverts waste from the landfill.
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For more information, contact:
Robin Campese
Government Services
Regina
Phone: 306-787-5959
Email: robin.campese@gov.sk.ca
Cell: 306-531-7532