The District of Muskoka will chip in to reinforce a retaining wall in downtown Bracebridge.
According to a staff report, the wall is on district property but needs to be shored up to support the construction at the corner of Manitoba St. and Taylor Rd.. The district will pay $19,605 before tax to Alorium Holdings Inc., the owner of the construction site.
The aging wall would need to be temporarily reinforced as the ground is excavated behind it, so staff recommended permanently upgrading the wall instead.
James Steele, Muskoka’s Commissioner of Engineering and Public Works, says the work also future-proofs the structure for the upcoming dig project in Bracebridge’s downtown.
“This is to allow us flexibility [to] complete any future improvements in conjunction with the downtown revitalization or reconstruction,” says Steele. “As opposed to having to put out a separate tender to shore it up now, only for it to be replaced in the future. So there is a bit of a value-add in doing the work now, and certainly the district is benefiting from the work that the developer is proposing.”
Steele adds that sidewalk disruptions are limited, as the majority of the work is being done on the private side of the wall.