THUNDER BAY — The city has released the list of potential builders of Thunder Bay's planned indoor turf facility.
Three companies responded last year to the city's invitation to pre-qualify (RFPQ) for consideration for the $42 million project, and all three have qualified and advanced to the second stage (Request for Proposals) stage.
Two are based in the city – Tom Jones Corporation and FinnWay General Contractor.
The third company, McDonald Brothers Construction Inc., is headquartered in Ottawa.
According to a project update issued by the city on Wednesday, all three pre-qualifiers have local representation in the design and/or construction phases of the project.
In the next phase of the evaluation process, each team will develop a design and cost estimate.
Those proposals are due by the end of February, after which city staff will evaluate them based on technical quality and cost.
The city said the process "is designed to prioritize value for taxpayers while staying within the project's approved budget."
After the winning design is chosen staff will finalize the design details and explore cost-saving opportunities prior to the start of construction, subject to city council's approval.
The contract is expected to be awarded sometime this spring, with construction due to begin this summer and finish by the fall of 2026.
According to the city, the sport complex is projected to support over 6,000 turf sports users.
NOTE: A previous version of this story stated there had been at least 20 expressions of interest by design/build teams in taking on the indoor turf project. A city spokesperson clarified Friday that although there had been 20 "plan takers," these were a mix of subcontractors and specialty suppliers who would not have submitted pre-qualification documents .
