Pavilion News (November 2018)

HPC acknowledges that the residents of Hagley are increasingly concerned by the lack of momentum with the build of the new Pavilion, and recognises the need to keep residents updated with current progress, whilst it also attempts to address the difficulties that it has, and continues, to face.

Please see below a briefing of events to date:

History

• ·         HPC invited Contractors to tender during 2016.
• ·         Under advice from the Design Architect / Project Manager (Simms Davies), individual Contractors were invited to apply for each major element of the project, in order to achieve best price.  The known shortcoming of this approach is that it can introduce delays between each construction phase.
• ·         The Football Foundation delayed in responding with confirmation of the grant award whilst going through their approval process.  As a result, the original Contract tenders expired.
• ·         HPC re-invited Contractors to tender and found a substantial increase in costs.
• ·         February 2017 – The Football Foundation made their grant offer of up to £100,000 to HPC.
• ·         Securing a Demolition Contractor presented problems, due to only one response to the re-tender being received.
• ·         June 2017 – HPC appointed a ‘client side’ Project Manager (Place Partnership) to provide the volunteer HPC members with professional support and aid communication with Simms Davies and the Contractors.
• ·         July 2017 – Demolition of the old Changing Rooms takes place.
• ·         August 2017 – Access route installed to allow materials to be delivered to site.
• ·         September 2017 – Contractor for the building shell commences build on site.
• ·         The UK encountered the worst winter on record, which meant the Access route fell short of safety standards and had to be substantially improved, leading to project delay.
• ·         February 2018 – Contractor for the building shell re-commences build on site.
• ·         Summer 2018 – Construction of drainage, foundations, service connections, and building shell of the new Pavilion completed.
• ·         A meeting with the Football Foundation confirmed their recognition of the problems that HPC has faced in the project to date and they are fully aware of how HPC is managing these.
• ·         The original preferred Roofing & Cladding Contractor withdrew leaving HPC to seek the next best price.  As a result, HPC called on the ‘2^nd place’ contractor who was engaged in another major project and that they had to finish before signing up to HPC.
• ·         November 2018 – Roofing & Cladding contract signed and electronic payment process setup in order for material costs to be paid for.

 Current position

• ·         The Roofing & Cladding Contractor has completed their survey on site and HPC now awaits commencement on site.  No materials have yet been delivered to site.
• ·         Due to the delays outlined above, the originally anticipated completion date for the Pavilion has been passed.
• ·         HPC awaits a revised build program from Simms Davies / Place Partnership, at which point a revised completion date for the Pavilion can be estimated.

Next…

• ·         HPC has stated an aim to get the building ‘wind and water tight’ before the winter.  However, this has slipped back due to the Contractor issues explained above, beyond the control of HPC.
• ·         The next contract following Roofing & Cladding will be the Closures contract (i.e. windows and doors).  The Closures contract is lined up, but cannot yet be signed as the completion date for the Roofing & Cladding works is not yet certain.
• ·         Once the building is ‘wind and water tight’ a full review of the expect project costs to completion will be undertaken.
• ·         The Electrical and Plumbing contracts are lined up but cannot yet be signed.

 

Confidentiality

Due to the commercial difficulties encountered during the project, HPC (in the interest of the public) has been forced to discuss certain project matters in the confines of professional boundaries and confidentiality in ‘private session’.   This is not in order to withhold information from residents or to limit transparency, but is simply due to the commercially sensitive nature of the business being discussed and transacted. 

Updates on the project have been issued via the local press, the Hagley Village News, the HPC Newsletter and through the HPC Meeting Minutes, wherever appropriate.  Q&A sessions have been undertaken at HPC Meetings periodically, as requested by interested members of the public, and the ‘Pavilion update’ is a standing agenda item for all HPC Meetings.  HPC will continue to provide updates as the project progresses to completion.