A month after the announcement of the replacement of the roof of the Olympic Stadium, Quebec and the Olympic Park refuse to say whether they have signed the contract worth several hundred million dollars with the consortium chosen to carry out the work.
The agreement was “not yet signed” at the time of the February 5 announcement, the head of the Olympic Park revealed in a technical briefing where recordings were prohibited, but which has since been made public by the organization. “We will continue the discussions and within a few days, or at most a few weeks, there will be a contract that will be signed and there will be communication regarding the contract itself,” indicated Michel Labrecque.
Requested by The Press in the last days, the public body did not want to indicate whether the agreement with the private consortium had finally been concluded. “When all the elements related to the signing of the contract are gathered and recorded, we will publish the information in the form and within the prescribed deadlines on the site [du] Electronic call for tenders system,” said Cédric Essiminy, spokesperson for the Olympic Park, by email.
The companies Pomerleau and Canam, which lead the consortium, also did not want to indicate whether the contract had been signed, nor did the office of the Minister of Tourism, Caroline Proulx.
Target price
The complete project to replace the roof and technical ring of the Olympic Stadium is currently estimated at 870 million by Quebec.
This price includes the estimated cost of the construction contract, but also the internal expenses of the Olympic Park and provisions for unforeseen events. “That includes inflationary estimates,” said Michel Labrecque, the boss of the Olympic Park, on February 5. “The risks, the contingencies on both sides. »
PHOTO ALAIN ROBERGE, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
The President and CEO of the Olympic Park, Michel Labrecque, and the Minister of Tourism, Caroline Proulx, on February 5
The Press had already revealed last fall that the public authorities had chosen an unusual method of agreement for this project: the contract will not be concluded with a firm price, but rather a target price. This contractual method provides for risk sharing if the work costs more than expected, as well as sharing of savings otherwise.
Read the article “Roof and technical ring: a project costing at least 750 million at the Olympic Stadium”
On February 5, Mr. Labrecque refused to reveal how much this “target price” was.
The contract was not the subject of a call for tenders. In 2021, an international call for qualifications attracted only one consortium: that formed by the companies Pomerleau and Canam, as well as other smaller firms. The Olympic Park then obtained the green light from Quebec to negotiate and reach an agreement directly with the group. A sum of 20 million has already been granted to them for the work carried out to date.