Pieced together like Lego bricks, the Sudbury Peace Tower housing project is going up quickly.
In the shadow of the downtown water tower, crews have been seen lowering pre-engineered cross-laminated timber pieces into place for the last several days.
In that time, much of the building has already been erected, which project lead Tim Laderoute said on Tuesday should be completed by the end of next Friday, “weather permitting.”
It’s a speedy process which Laderoute said is relatively new to the area, with this the first multi-residential complex in Greater Sudbury he has heard of using the building technique.
“It’s exciting,” he said, adding that the people who take residence “will have one of the best views in the city.”
Designed by Centreline Architecture, the building is angled northwest to overlook downtown Sudbury and the Flour Mill neighbourhood from atop the Pearl Street hill.
Cross-laminated timber is an engineered wood product which uses several layers of kiln-dried lumber glued together on their wide faces. Custom-sized panels are built at the Element5 facility in St. Thomas and driven to the worksite in tractor trailers. A crane lowers them into place for crews to secure them together like a puzzle.
Although the 38-unit housing complex will be largely assembled within the next several days, Laderoute noted that the roof, interior finish, windows, siding and other components will still need to be installed.
The project remains exactly as it was initially proposed, and Laderoute said that everything has gone to plan.
“That’s one thing about this pre-engineered product, is that once you submit the finished plans, there really is no window to alter the design and layout because they start to manufacture it in the facility,” he said.
Although enthusiastic about the unique building process they’ve chosen to use, which Laderoute cited as cost-effective, fast to build and uses a renewable resource, he said the end product’s purpose is what will matter the most in the long run.
This purpose, he explained, is “to provide affordable housing to those who aren't as fortunate as so many of us are.”
The 38 units will consist of 400-square-foot one-bedroom residences which will be geared-to-income, meaning tenants will pay 30-per-cent of their gross monthly income, with the balance subsidized by the province.
These are “forever homes,” Laderoute explained, clarifying that they’re not transitional housing like the city’s 40 units on Lorraine Street will be.
It is, however, possible that Lorraine Street residents will relocate to the Sudbury Peace Tower housing complex after they graduate from the program, which will seek to give people who are chronically homeless the tools they need to succeed in community housing on their own.
The Sudbury Peace Tower project has received funding from all three levels of government, including $6.3 million in federal funding and $5.7 million from the province toward its total construction cost of approximately $13.5 million.
In May, city council members unanimously approved approximately $1 million in municipal support, including $241,000 in grants and $849,993 in tax-increment equivalent grants. These funds will not begin flowing until occupancy is granted.
Local developer Dario Zulich donated land for the housing development to the non-profit Sudbury Peace Tower Inc., which owns and will administer the property with help from the municipal government with provincial funding toward subsidized rents.
Residents will come off the city’s wait list for geared-to-income housing, which in May was 1,654 households, of which 1,077 were for one-bedroom units.
The housing development is part of a broader transformation to take place around the water tower property in recent months. Last year, the rust-stained water tower received a fresh coat of paint, and shortly afterward became lit up as “the biggest goal light in the world,” as Zulich put it.
The multi-coloured lights shine whenever the Sudbury Wolves score a goal, and different colours and patterns have been displayed for special events, such as Canada Day.
The water tower and its neighbouring housing complex were named the Sudbury Peace Tower in memory of pastor Jeremy Mahood.
Tyler Clarke covers city hall and political affairs for Sudbury.com.