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  • The city is fast-tracking work to build two Sprung structures in Nepean and Kanata

The city is fast-tracking work to build two Sprung structures in Nepean and Kanata

The cost will be $15 million to build each centre

Progress: Ottawa’s Sprung structures are one step closer to getting built. Now, the city is looking at constructing both the Nepean and Kanata locations “as soon as possible,” one city councillor told the Lookout. 

In an update posted to Engage Ottawa, the city said each centre would cost about $15 million to build. The federal government would fully fund them, which is part of the reason the city wants to get shovels in the ground as soon as possible. Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre, who is currently leading by a landslide in the polls, has expressed he’s firmly against the project. 

A builder in mind: City staff also said it intends to award the Woodroffe Ave tent-like structure contract to BLT Construction Services and noted it’s the “only available and qualified vendor to perform the work required.” Other interested bidders will still have two weeks to demonstrate they can meet the builder’s requirements.

What would be inside: The structures are expected to be about 30,000 square feet and can have doors, windows, canopies, vestibules, covered walkway systems, connecting corridors, glazing walls, and graphic elements, reported CTV

  • The city has also indicated it wants space for a commercial kitchen, a dining area, laundry, and a staff office, along with 18 toilets and 15 showers. About 300 people would stay in each Sprung structure. 

Who will benefit? There have also been many questions over who would call the Sprung Structures home. Organization Refugee613 previously said many of the newcomers are leaving war-torn counties or are members of the LGBTQ2s+ community who are fleeing prosecution. The City of Ottawa website states they would house men and women over the age of 18. 

Their stays would be for 90 days, and they would afterwards be given resources to transition into the community. If that’s not enough time, transitional housing organizations will take them in, including the Taggart family YMCA, a former nunnery on St. Joseph Boulevard, and 20 four-to five-bedroom homes located across the city. 

By the numbers: Sprung structures aim to move newcomers out of the community centres where many currently reside. The Ottawa Mission previously reported that upwards of 65 percent of its clients were refugees. Now, that number is down to about 25 percent. 

  • About 600 newcomers are staying in Ottawa shelters, which represent about 60 percent of the shelter system's population. 

What happens after? The facilities, made of tensile fabric, have a minimum lifespan of 25 years and can be converted for other uses afterwards. They can also be moved around. The city says a library or recreation centre could use the space in the future.