VANCOUVER CONVENTION CENTRE

Theft won't delay construction timetable, project leader says

IAN BAILEY

September 19, 2007

VANCOUVER -- Vancouver's $800-million convention centre expansion will be completed on time despite what police called the "audacious" robbery of $160,000 in steel and aluminum parts for its roof, the project leader said yesterday.

"It's a setback, but it's normal in the process of construction. Material does not show up. It gets damaged or it's not fabricated properly. Those are the kinds of things you deal with day to day on a project of this scale," project chair David Podmore said yesterday.

"We'll work around it, and it won't affect our overall completion or budget."

The 106,000 square-metre expansion of the Vancouver Convention & Exhibition Centre is to be completed by March 15, 2009.

A total of 67 events linked to $1.3-billion in economic benefits have already been booked through to 2011 for the waterfront facility.

While Mr. Podmore played down the theft, the RCMP said there was nothing routine about this particular case although the theft of construction materials has become an annoying occurrence in B.C.

Twice between Sept. 12 and 15, someone showed up with a truck at the Surrey-area Deelite Fabrication & Welding facility with paperwork to justify taking the now-missing materials, which were destined for the project's 24,000-square-metre roof.

"For a metal theft, this is very unusual because it's taken place during the day," said RCMP Sergeant Roger Morrow of Surrey.

"I think 'audacious' would be an appropriate word," he said, describing the theft.

"I sit back and think about someone with the intestinal fortitude to do this. I wouldn't say I am speechless, but I think about someone having the audacity to do this, present themselves at a local business."

He said no one got the licence place of the vehicle used, and that the description of the man driving it was too vague to advance the investigation.

"The description we got is relatively generic - a Caucasian male in his forties, thin, 5 foot 10, 180 to 190 pounds. That's a lot of people," he said, joking that he might match the description.

Police, he said, are hoping for a tip from any metal recycler who receives the stolen metal.

"We'll have to wait and see," Sgt. Morrow said.

The centre has become controversial because its cost has soared from an expected $500-million to about $800-million, leading to Mr. Podmore's appointment by the provincial government in April to keep things on track.

The soaring costs yesterday prompted the NDP Opposition to dismiss Mr. Podmore's credibility in playing down the impact of the theft.

"[His] words don't mean anything," said designated spokesman Harry Bains.

Mr. Podmore stood by his forecast to have the project done on time.

He noted that the theft might get people thinking about the larger problem of materials theft in the construction industry.

"[It's] a big issue in the industry as a whole, particularly of metal products because these products are sold and melted down and re-circulated," he said.

"Hopefully [this] draws attention to the need for stricter control, particularly on the people buying these materials for scrap."