Memory test time.
Regular readers may recall a story and subsequent blog post I wrote way back in the fall of 2013 about the cost of building “gender neutral” washrooms in firehalls.
I’ve got some new info on the costs.
Some background first…
Back in September, I learned from a taped interview with Mark Engler, deputy chief of operations for Vancouver and Fire Rescue Services, that five washrooms were either built or being built at a cost of $150,000 to $200,000 each.
“Wow,” was my response, “that must be a pretty nice washroom.”
Engler said the washrooms were expensive because the cost included money paid to a project manager and architect. Some of the work required removal of hazardous material such as asbestos, he added.
Me: “So that I’m clear, the $150,000 to $200,000 budget is for five washrooms?”
Engler: “Correct.”
Engler: “Some of them were as low as $150,000?”
Me: “And some were more than $150,000?”
Engler: “The latest ones have been a little bit more. The contracting fees actually went up on the last one, so they were a little higher.”
So I went with my story, saying the fire department had spent close to $1 million on these washrooms. Kind of newsworthy, right?
CTV thought so and followed up with the City of Vancouver, only to be told the costs actually ranged from $56,000 to $94,000.
Not exactly $150,000 to $200,000, so CTV dropped the story.
When my former colleague Fiona Hughes questioned the City of Vancouver’s Bill Aujla about the discrepancy, she was told Engler “wasn’t sure where those figures came from.” I was away at the time, so Hughes picked up the story.
Anyway, the inference was I got it wrong, even though Engler said what he said in a taped interview. Whatever.
Now to the new info…
CTV reporter Jon Woodward contacted me Monday to tell me he finally received some Freedom of Information documents from the city about this whole mess.
Woodward shared the documents.
From what I viewed, the costs did not range from $56,000 to $94,000, as the city initially explained — or fall in anywhere close to the $150,000 to $200,000 mentioned by Engler.
If you believe these documents, costs for four washrooms ranged from $60,022 at firehall 22 (1005 West 59th) to $102,589 at firehall 12 (2460 Balaclava).
The total for four washrooms was $331,310, for an average of $82,828.
I couldn’t find any figures in the documents for the fifth washroom. Maybe that was the one that cost $56,000. I don’t know.
But what I do know is the $100,100 cost for the washroom at firehall 7 (1090 Howe St.) couldn’t have been spent. That’s because, as our photographer Dan Toulgoet discovered when I sent him there Monday, there is no firehall at that address.
But there’s one at 1090 Haro St.
Probably just a typo.
But how could that be?
The city is never wrong.
Right?
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