A builder has been chosen to construct a new jail for central Vancouver Island.
The B.C. Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General announced Wednesday that Stuart Olson Construction has won the contract for the replacement Nanaimo Correctional Centre.
The $157-million project was announced a year and a half ago, and a request for qualifications was announced at that time.
According to Wednesday’s press release, Stuart Olson Construction Ltd. will work with 17 collaborating partners on the project, expected to create 650 direct and 275 indirect jobs. The province says the Snuneymuxw and Snaw-naw-as First Nations will have design input as well as job and contract opportunities during construction.
Design is anticipated to begin in the new year, with “pre-construction” happening in the first quarter of 2021.
The new jail will be built next to the existing one near Brannen Lake. It will be configured to maintain the 190-room capacity of the current Nanaimo Correctional Centre and add a 12-room unit for short-term custody for women from Vancouver Island, the first provincial custody unit for women.
The province says the new jail will be built with “modernized spaces for educational, vocational and certified trades training in addition to rehabilitative and culturally responsive indigenous programming.”
For more news from Vancouver Island and beyond delivered daily into your inbox, please click here.
RELATED: Province announces $157-million project to replace Nanaimo Correctional Centre
editor@nanaimobulletin.com
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter