Coming soon to Invermere

A dirt lot is being transformed into a Canadian Tire retail space in Invermere

1 of 3Between 30 and 40 jobs opened for contractors located in the Kootenays during the height of construction at Canadian Tire. — Breanne Massey photo

2 of 3Construction at the Canadian Tire project site, located in the heart of Invermere, has been going smoothly. — Breanne Massey photo

3 of 3Contractors at the Canadian Tire site are appreciate that they can stay in the Kootenays to work close to their homes. — Breanne Massey photo

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Building a site from the ground up is a big task, but it’s possible to save time without cutting corners.

Greyback Construction Ltd. has been working on a job site in Invermere for about six months, and the project manager, Craig Donoghue, anticipates that the project will be ready to receive fixtures this January. The opening date for the business is expected to be in the spring of 2012.

“We basically take it from a dirt lot to a completed Canadian Tire,” said Donoghue.

Donoghue said the Canadian Tire project in Invermere is roughly 30,000 square feet and he explained that the new facility will contain a Mark’s Work Wearhouse, an automotive centre, storage space and a garden centre.

Greyback Construction has consciously hired subcontractors from the Kootenays. Dwayne Crashley, the superintendent of Greyback Construction, was responsible for overseeing on-site construction. He said there were between 30 and 40 jobs available throughout the total project, and there were 15 employees on site on any given day during the height of this project.

Adding local flavour to the job site

Greyback hired contract electricians, mechanics and roofers, but the company’s focus was primarily pouring concrete and hanging doors.

“We’ve got different subcontractors working on different trades throughout the job,” said Crashley.

Crashley hired employees to work on areas ranging from mechanical and electrical to concrete, fencing and landscaping. He added that one time-saving aspect was how the walls were constructed.

Saving time

“The unique thing about this project is the wall system,” he said.

Typically, putting up walls requires three or four separate contractors working on different stages of a project, but on this site, it only took about three weeks to put up the walls and roof. The pieces for both the walls and the roof came assembled and Crashley was appreciative of that.

He said that the steel structures were easy to store in this location and that the metal shells allowed them to build from roof to slab instead of working from slab to roof.

“It saves me, on a project of this size, at least a month’s worth of work,” said Crashley.