June 25, 2007

Power Steel and Erectors Inc.

Power Steel and Erectors Inc. used about 849 tons of structural steel on the The Nanaimo Conference Centre, now in the final stages of completion.

Project Update

Phenomenal amount of steel used in centre

King Lee

correspondent

To say that Nanaimo’s downtown Vancouver Island Conference Centre, set to be completed by late spring next year, used a ton of structural steel is to understate by about 849 tons.

David Powley of Surrey-based Power Steel and Erectors Inc. said the amount of steel is the most used by his company in a single project by about 150 tons.

“We’re very close to being finished,” said Powley, majority owner of the business which started as Marsh Steel Ltd. in 1981 and changed its name on June 1, 2006.

The 38,000 square foot conference centre will have three levels containing convention space, a 200-seat auditorium, 19,700 square feet of commercial and retain space, a 140-room hotel with spa and restaurant, a 48-unit condominium complex and a 16,000 square foot museum.

The official launch of construction was on June 23 last year and Atlific Hotels and Resorts won the management contract. Atlific is a 46-year-old company that operates 33 Canadian properties including the Deerhurst Resort in Muskoka, Ontario, and the Montreal Marriott Chateau Champlain.

Powley said his five-man crew began on Nov. 1 and should finish the structural work next month and that the $3.85 million job was done on schedule with only a minor problem due to restricted site access.

He said the crew had to work two Sundays when the road around the construction site could be blocked off to traffic without too much disruption. He also had to bring in a second crane to deal with the 100-feet-long trusses.

Powley and minority-owner Ron Marsh started with about 12 employees 26 years ago and now operate with 45 employees.

Power Steel’s biggest job before the Nanaimo project was supplying steel for an $8-million school on the island of Hawaii. The firm also operates in Alaska and Washington state.

Powley said the steel for the Vancouver Island Conference Centre project had to be shipped in from “off-shore” at a cost of about $4,500 per ton.

He was proud of the fact his crew finished the job on time and said his company also completed steel construction at two Home Depots (Squamish and South Surrey) as well as two SkyTrain stations on the B.C. Lower Mainland on schedule. “We never held anybody up.”

Power Steel is also involved in other Vancouver Island construction projects, the RCMP detachment building and Brick store in Nanaimo and a hazardous-material facility at CFB Esquimalt in Victoria.

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