OTTAWA—The Crown corporation in charge of federal property has clarified the costs of renovating the “country retreat” for prime ministers in the hills north of Ottawa, and revealed that the project is expected to come in under budget.
The National Capital Commission contacted the Star to clarify that the just-finished project had been budgeted at $8.6 million, mostly to renovate two buildings, plus $1 million for security upgrades.
It’s now expected to come in for about $300,000 less.
An earlier Star report had pegged the cost of the full retreat reno at $11 million. The NCC explained that federal planners had changed the name of one building partway through the process, making one renovation item initially appear to be two. (The former caretaker’s cottage is now called a farmhouse, resulting in the lower overall cost of $9.6 million.)
That tab will eventually grow, as more work is required on the property.
The original sprawling white house on the shore of Harrington Lake, Que., was built for a lumber baron in 1925. Sold decades later to the federal government, it became a retreat for prime ministers in the late 1950s. The 5.4-hectare site is surrounded by forest and has no near neighbours.
The main house, at 8,300 square feet, has undergone a major renovation. It includes a new exterior “envelope” (rebuilt walls, roof, doors and windows), insulation, heating and air conditioning, masonry and foundation work, and major upgrades to the kitchen, pantries and laundry area, plus a new sprinkler system.
But it still needs more work, estimated at $1.1 million: New wiring, plumbing and distribution system for the hot-water heating, plus an interior paint job.
The recent work has raised the overall condition of the building from poor to fair, says the NCC (the federal property manager). It would need the extra repairs and upgrades to reach the category of “good.”
The smaller part of the recent Harrington Lake work, more than $2 million worth, involved moving and rebuilding the dilapidated former caretaker’s cottage, vacant for many years. Formerly set in the woods, it has been relocated closer to the main house. The NCC says renaming it as a farmhouse will make it attractive as a guest house.
While the main house needs $1.1 million in repairs, the various outbuildings together also need a further million, the NCC says.
This includes $372,000 for a small guest cottage (about 900 square feet, also built in 1925); a combined garage and shop ($98,000); a 1970 pump shed ($32,000) and a change house ($82,000).
While Harrington Lake is in much better condition today, the five other official residences in and near Ottawa area are suffering from lack of repairs.
No. 24 Sussex Drive, official residence of prime ministers, has been vacant since 2015 and is in “critical” condition. The NCC says it needs either $36.6 million in repairs, or demolition and replacement for $40 million.
Stornoway (home of the leader of the Opposition), a country place called The Farm (for the speaker of the House of Commons), Rideau Hall (where governors general live) and a guest house called 7 Rideau Gate all need extensive work, though not as desperately as 24 Sussex.
The combined bill: $89 million for the must-do repairs, but the NCC would prefer $175 million to bring everything up to modern standards — in accessibility, for instance. First, however, the federal government would have to give the commission the money.
On top of that, the NCC suggests $26 million per year indefinitely for maintenance and repairs on the six homes.
These figures don’t include Rideau Cottage, the actual home of the Trudeau family, which is close to Rideau Hall but not an official residence. It has undergone security upgrades including guard huts, gates and fencing, and the longer the Trudeaus stay there, the more Ottawa residents suspect that future prime ministers won’t go back to the drafty and crumbling official home.
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