Building hope in the heart of gold: hotels, seniors' homes, schools on Timmins' building books.

• Author: Stewart, Nick
• Position: TIMMINS

Amidst the seasonal cold and blowing snow, there's a sense of warm optimism deep in the City with a Heart of Gold.

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While the loss of 400 jobs at Xstrata's shuttered Metallurgical Site remains a point of concern, there's a palpable sense of excitement in many corners of the city as the soaring price of gold is attracting investment, people and prosperity.

Some of this is buoyed by the promise of several mines coming online in the region in the coming years, creating hundreds of new jobs and spending billions of dollars through the likes of Detour Gold, Northgate Minerals, and Lake Shore Gold.

Liberty Mines restarted its nickel mining operations in 2010, while Goldcorp may potentially begin construction on a major mining project near the heart of downtown Timmins as early as next year.

Such promise continues to lend strength to construction in the city, which is already expected to reach new heights in 2011, solidifying its status as a regional hub for the northeast.

"I think we certainly anticipate a good year again this year, and while I don't and can't know the number of permits we'll see, I think it's safe to say the value of those permits are definitely going up to be there, based on what we're already seeing," said Esa Saarela, chief building official for the City of Timmins.

Though initially expected to falter somewhat following the closure of the Met Site, the value of permits in 2010 instead rose $6 million to reach $49 million, up $7 million from the previous year. It sits just $2 million shy of totals seen in 2008, whose pre-recession $51-million total was a recent high.

Hotels are set to be just one of several hot items for Timmins in the coming year. The city will see a new $12-million Hampton Inn built in what is currently the parking lot of the 101 Mall, located in the downtown core.

A 102-room Holiday Inn Express is also being proposed for the city by a joint venture partnership between two Hamilton-based companies, one of which is headed by Darko Vranich, who has built hotels in North Bay and Sudbury in recent years.

Other major projects due for the new year include a new 14,000-square-foot foensics identification unit for the Ontario Provincial Police in South Porcupine, which was delayed from last year.

A new building for the relocation of the Timmins Extendicare nursing home on Shirley Street, in the city's west end, is also expected to go up this year at a cost of more than $20 million.

A new...