Remedial work needed to re-open the Art Gallery of Sudbury’s historic Bell Mansion home would take a little more than five weeks to complete, according to a document received by Sudbury.com through provincial Freedom of Information Act legislation.
However, we don’t know how much renovations to the Bell Mansion would cost, as those numbers are redacted in the seven-page, Dec. 22, 2023 document produced by the engineering firm JL Richards.
The 100-year-old Laurentian University-owned building, which has for many years housed the Art Gallery of Sudbury, was closed in October 2023 because it was no longer safe in its current state of repair.
Sudbury.com requested a copy of the document in question from Laurentian in March 2024, but university communications staff said the report was “not publicly available.”
We then formally submitted a freedom of information request for the document to Laurentian in April under the provincial Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.
In general, under provincial legislation, information access requests must be completed within 30 days. However, we didn’t receive the document until earlier this month due to the necessity for third-party consultations.
A letter accompanying the document signed by Renée Fuchs, Laurentian’s senior legal counsel, said portions of the document were redacted (mostly related to costing) due to exemptions under Freedom of Information legislation.
These exemptions relate to third-party information, personal privacy and economic and other interests, the letter said.
Costing was also redacted in an engineering report on Laurentian University’s long-closed Jeno Tihanyi Olympic Gold Pool, which Sudbury.com also received through a Freedom of Information request last month.
A portion of the Bell Mansion document is a Dec. 22, 2023 memo written by JL Richards engineers Hannah Freeman and Laura Grover, and addressed to Laurentian University director of maintenance and operations Pierre Fontaine.
The memo said it had attached a preliminary, high-level opinion of probable construction costs from PCL Constructors of Northern Ontario.
It said the intent of the construction would be to provide “short-term stabilization” of the building to “re-enable occupancy,” although it added that “major works” would need to be done to “fix the structure in a long-term manner.”
An “order of magnitude” budget provided to JL Richards by PCL Constructors Dec. 22, 2023 provides Laurentian with a budgeted construction cost, but then recommends a 20-per-cent contingency allowance “to reflect the level of design and current unknowns.”
As stated above, the costing included in the report from PCL Constructors has been redacted by Laurentian.
JL Richards said in its memo that it has “observed extraordinary market conditions,” including rising inflation and unusual increases in material costs, which “could have a material impact on the project’s budget.”
PCL Constructors said based on a commencement date of April 1, it expected all work to be completed by May 10.
(However, Sudbury.com confirmed with Laurentian University this week that no renovation work has been done at the Bell Mansion in 2024).
What needs to be done?
The needed work outlined by PCL Constructors involves shoring of the main stairs, propping of the south wall and basement, removal of the west chimney and weatherproofing of the building.
The report said the main stairs need to be “shored for vertical loads,” and recommends that a number of post shores be installed, among other measures.
PCL Construction said the south wall of the Bell Mansion needs to be propped externally, recommending four “Peri SB Brace Frames” be installed.
Dealing with the south wall’s issues would also involve the installation of concrete foundations (with two different options provided), among other work.
The existing stone stairs and pavers would be removed, and the stones reserved for future reinstallation, and temporary wooden stairs installed.
The report also said the south wall basement needs to be propped horizontally by two “RS Peri Push-Pull Props (or similar).”
Also among the work that is needed is the removal of the west chimney to the roof level, and a temporary cover put on the resulting hole. The stones will be catalogued and transported to Laurentian University for storage so the chimney can be re-built in the future.
“This is to protect the heritage value of the structure,” said the report.
Weatherproofing remediations included in the report sealing around the windows where the masonry has separated from the frame, repair of flashing and sealant at the top of the stone facade at roof junction and building a temporary stair to access the front entrance.
‘Stonewalled’: Art Gallery of Sudbury response
Receiving a copy of the redacted Bell Mansion document from Sudbury.com this week, Art Gallery of Sudbury director and curator Demetra Christakos said this is the first time she’s viewed it.
The report was, however, referenced in a conversation she had with Laurentian in January. She said the document we received lines up with what she was told orally last winter, in terms of the scope of work and timelines.
She was also told by Laurentian earlier this year that once a decision is made to proceed with the repair work, it would need to go to tender, which would take two months. All told, these processes add up to three-and-a-half months.
Christakos said some costing information was shared with her confidentially, but said she can’t make any accurate projections of cost totals based on the information provided in the redacted report, given different recommendation options and the 20-per-cent contingency.
Between the Bell Mansion’s closure in October and the report’s release in December, there was a “pretty open exchange of information,” she said, but from the winter onward, “anything to do with the Bell Mansion” has been “stonewalled.”
“Obviously whatever is contained in this document is an issue for the university,” Christakos said.
She said the most recent meeting between the art gallery and Laurentian was May 28, and was a virtual introductory meeting with Lynn Wells, LU’s new president, who began her term on April 1, and a couple of other senior university administrators.
Christakos outlined for the Laurentian officials the compounding costs for the Art Gallery of Sudbury as it continues to be out of its Bell Mansion home, including renting temporary space on Elgin Street for its exhibits and gallery shop.
“The president said we’ll take that information back and circle back to us,” she said. “That was several weeks ago. We haven’t connected since then.”
A legal agreement that came out of Laurentian’s 2021-2022 insolvency means the gallery is now only entitled to inhabit the Bell Mansion until May 30, 2025, although before the structural issues of last fall cropped up, they had been floating the idea of possibly extending that occupancy date.
The Art Gallery of Sudbury is also currently exploring its relocation to the yet-to-be-realized Cultural Hub, which is to be located in City of Greater Sudbury-owned property at Tom Davies Square and 199 Larch St., with the latest projected opening date at the end of 2026.
Christakos said the latest design options are “very exciting.”
While the gallery’s frustration with the situation is building, Christakos said her “hope and expectation” is that Laurentian remediates the Bell Mansion building.
“I believe they have an obligation to the community to do it,” she said. “They accepted that property in care and trust for the community. That's my hope for them, that they carry through with remediating that property.”
Laurentian declines interview request
In early July, in light of our pending Freedom of Information request for the Bell Mansion report, we requested an interview on the file this month with Laurentian University President Lynn Wells or the most appropriate LU administrator.
However, Laurentian declined our request, issuing only the following brief emailed statement, attributed to vice-president, finance and administration Sylvie Lafontaine: "We continue to have dialogue with the leadership of the Art Gallery of Sudbury with respect to the Bell Mansion."
Following our receipt of the document on the Bell Mansion on July 10, we again reached out to Laurentian University, repeating our interview request with senior LU administrators. We were told this week “no one is available for an interview.”
Two previous requests in 2024 for interviews with Laurentian administrators on the Bell Mansion have also been declined, with the university also providing brief written statements in those instances.
Heidi Ulrichsen is Sudbury.com’s assistant editor. She also covers education and the arts scene.