With up to 60 construction workers on site, BC Hydro’s new post-disaster operations centre in Royal Oak is in the final phase of construction.
The $40 million, 75,000 square-foot main building and three subsidiary buildings nestled between West Saanich Road and Viewmont Avenue, and beside the Royal Oak Shopping Centre, will replace the current operations centre and will be home to the 160 staff based there.
The centre will serve about 360,000 residents for the Capital Region and some Gulf Islands.
It’s one on many ongoing upgrades by BC Hydro to bring its provincial infrastructure up to date in case of the ‘big one,’ said Ted Olynyk, spokesperson for BC Hydro.
“It’s not a question of if, but when, and people are going to expect to have power after the earthquake,” Olynyk said.
Coming to the 14-acre complex are a new fleet service building (6,500 sq.-ft.), a small hazardous material storage building (2,000 sq.-ft.) and a covered parking lot, all in addition to the main office building, which is being built to a LEED silver standard, though without the official approval.
“The standards of this site are being built to 50 per cent above the building code,” Olynyk said.
The main building is on track to finish by October, if not later in the fall, said Zeid Hussain, field expediter for Omicron, the construction company leading the project.
“Things are going to pick up here with the utilities coming,” Hussain said. “This summer we’ll have up to 120 workers here per day.”
The building will have a 75-year lifespan, nearly double that of the 40-year-old centre that will soon be razed.
“Each site, whether it’s this one in Royal Oak, or the new operation centres in Port Alberni, Nanaimo, Campbell River, Port Hardy, Vernon and Ucluelet, they are all designed to maximize the use of every inch of the property,” Olynyk said.
It will make it easier than before for truck drivers to bring a load of hydro poles into or out of the sprawling work yard.
Currently the displaced BC Hydro staff are working nearby at the Orca building. Next door, the new six-storey, wood-framed Radius is under construction by Tri-Eagle developments.
