Ontario Construction News staff writer
The province of Ontario has announced the groundbreaking for a new $59 million long-term care home in Durham, Grey County. The 128-bed facility will be part of the province’s efforts to build more than 58,000 new and upgraded long-term care beds across Ontario.
Grey County Council awarded the Rockwood Terrace general construction contract to Melloul-Blamey Construction Ltd. with a bid of $59,230,000 (excluding HST). Council made the decision at the April 25 session of Committee of the Whole.
“This is a very important investment in long-term care for the Durham community,” Rick Byers, MPP for Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound, said in a statement last Friday (June 28). “I’d like to congratulate and thank the County of Grey for proceeding with this project that will provide additional long-term beds and an updated home for our seniors.”
The new home, Rockwood Terrace, will be built by the Corporation of the County of Grey and will consist of four resident home areas of 32 residents each. The home will have 80 private rooms and 24 double rooms, all of which are designed to be modern and comfortable with a large dining room, cognitive stimulation stations, and outdoor walking routes.
“Today marks a pivotal milestone in a decade-long journey for Rockwood Terrace, the community of Durham, and southern Grey County,” said Brian Milne, Grey County Warden. “With construction underway, we’re truly beginning to see all the hard work, thoughtful consideration and careful planning paying off. I look forward to watching the building go up.”
Overall, the province says in a statement it has approved construction funding for 67 projects across Ontario, including Rockwood Terrace, since the start of 2022.
The statement says a supplemental increase to the construction funding subsidy, which was designed to stimulate the start of construction for more long-term care homes across Ontario has resulted in projects with 11,199 new and upgraded beds are now being built to modern design standards across the province.
“Based on this success, the province recently extended the construction funding subsidy to eligible projects that are approved to construct by Nov. 30 — which includes Rockwood Terrace,” the statement says.