Published March 2025
Construction continues on the Making Home project. The third floor addition including the roof, windows, walls and blue skin are all completed. The framing for the units on the third floor is complete along with plumbing, electrical and HVAC rough ins. Drywall is the next step. When you drive by 97 Victoria you can see the new windows donated by Strassburger Windows. They were installed in late November before the cold weather took hold. The second floor is now at the framing stage with progress towards completing plumbing rough-in and the HVAC rough-in along the main hallway.
The main floor ceiling of 7,500 square feet now has four layers of 5/8 fire rated drywall. The high number of drywall layers is because the main floor will have an occupancy of up to 200 people at any one time and above the main floor will be the 44 units of housing. The old sprinkler system from the 1950’s will be replaced with an upgraded new system that will be installed throughout the building. Progress on the main floor includes the main entrance stairwell which is ready for finishing and the elevator shaft which is waiting for the installation of the elevator in mid-March. A major enhancement of this construction project has been the extra design work on the sanitary lines, accounting for the many different uses of the building including the apartments, the public access washrooms and showers and the operation of St. John’s Kitchen. Extra underground servicing was necessary to ensure all these plumbing services had separate lines to avoid major sewage backups. All this work, including exterior work in the courtyard to Victoria Street is now complete.
During the week before Christmas on December 16th, Element 5, a mass timber manufacturer specializing in fabrication and assembly of timber structures, arrived to site to assemble the new St. John’s Kitchen building. When they left on December 20th, the mass timber structure was completed which included the roof and the interior finish. This structure which now sits in the former parking lot, will have a bank of windows overlooking the central courtyard while serving as the entrance to the apartments, entrance area to St. John’s Kitchen and to the medical clinic. By early summer in June, all of the buildings will be in their final stages of completion. With so much snow on site, it is hard to visualize, but the construction work will all come together over the next months.
During the Mayors’ Dinner we look forward to providing a larger update on the construction project and the operation of Making Home. Another large update we are looking forward to sharing, is the progress of our fundraising campaign as it nears completion!
