An article in Tuesday's French-language Journal de Montreal reports that, with the Canadian GP weekend (June 7-9) fast approaching, the new paddock building is still not finished. Here are a few translated excerpts from the article:
Grand Prix du Canada: will the paddocks be ready in time?
One month before the Canadian Grand Prix, the paddocks of Circuit Gilles Villeneuve are not yet finished.
At 32 days from the Grand Prix du Canada, the construction of the new paddocks of the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve is still not completed. There is still more work to do, according to what we found Tuesday afternoon.
During the visit of the Journal de Montréal, the site looked like an anthill. Hundreds of workers were busy getting the work done on every floor of the new building, which was supposed to be ready by the end of April. However, they will have to work hard in the coming days.
On Tuesday afternoon, a press conference was announced for May 15 for the inauguration of the new paddocks in the presence of Mayor Valérie Plante and numerous dignitaries, including F1 boss Chase Carey. There is only a week to finish the work before the big visit...
...The work did not go off without a hitch. In an article published by our Investigation Bureau on April 3, unsatisfactory work was done on the roof.
According to the Geyser Group representative, who was awarded the contract for the refurbishment of the pits and garages, poor quality products (vapor barrier) were used for the roof design.
It was the inspectors of the Jean-Drapeau Park Corporation (SPJD) who identified these irregularities. Part of the roof had to be redone and a new contractor received this assignment...
THE WORK AT THE GILLES-VILLENEUVE CIRCUIT IN FIGURES [$CDN]
Cost-initial estimate : $ 32M
Revised costs: $ 48M ( $ 30M from the City of Montreal and $ 18M from the Quebec government)
Final invoice: $ 76 million
Number of floors: 3
Capacity of new lodges (people): 5000
Granting of the construction contract: March 2018
Start of work: July 3, 2018
Target date of completion: April 30, 2019
The article also notes that today is the anniversary (May 8, 1982) of the tragic death of the track's namesake, Gilles Villeneuve.
