$45M biotech centre proposed: two decommissioned hospital sites become surplus next year.

• Author: Scarcello, Frank

Two hospital facilities will become surplus next year when the new Thunder Bay Regional Hospital opens.

Dominion Construction of Winnipeg and DST Consulting Engineers of Thunder Bay have joined together to submit a proposal that would develop one of them, the Port Arthur General Hospital site, into a six-storey biotechnology centre that will be marketed as a condominium.

Ray Williamson, project development manager for Dominion Construction, says the concept is a real winner and it could help put Thunder Bay on the map in what he describes an "exploding" industry.

"The biomedical field is an industry that is growing right now and we have to capitalize on these things if Thunder Bay is going to succeed," Williamson says.

The estimated $45-million construction project would create over 250,000 square feet of space for a biotechnology centre. The proposal outlines that the centre can house over 400 employees and create $18 million in new salaries and inject a total of $90 million in the community on an annual basis.

The plan is to market the centre to companies engaged in a variety of different biomedical services such as pharmaceutical companies, gerontology research, diabetes and Aboriginal-disease pathologists and prosthetics manufacturers. The idea is that one or two companies would occupy one floor. The building would have to be 30 per cent...