City contractor fired in midst of College Street revitalization

By Adrian Ghobrial

There appears to be a disconnect at Toronto City Hall about why a contractor was fired in the midst of a sidewalk beautification project on College Street, west of Bathurst.

During a news conference Tuesday morning, Mayor John Tory said Four Seasons Site Development had been involved in “other incidents” before it won the contract for the College Street sidewalk project.

The mayor’s office didn’t respond to requests for clarification and Director of Engineering & Construction Services Frank Clarizio said he didn’t know about any prior problems.

“I’m not aware of the … particular, maybe, issues they may have had on those jobs,” Clarizio told CityNews. “From my understanding, this company did not have a failure on any performance evaluation on previous projects.”

“We have to go with the lowest bid,” he added.

Four Seasons was hired for a $3.4-million joint venture between the City and the local BIA to replace damaged sidewalks with interlocking brick, plant new trees, install new lights and bike posts and build parkettes on College between Havelock and Shaw streets.

The project was supposed to be done by Oct. 8, but the south side remains untouched and the north is only 90 per cent finished. The city confirms it fired Four Seasons for “non-adherence to contract.”

Four Seasons was also involved in the revitalization of Bloor Street and Nathan Philips Square. CityNews reached out to the company on Tuesday, but was told no one was available to comment.

And while the city may take legal action against Four Seasons, it may be slapped with its own lawsuit from local business owners.

Each business has seen an average tax increase of 20 per cent for construction that hasn’t been completed and could bring business to a halt for a second summer in 2017.

“There are meetings going on about that this week,” said David Michael, co-owner of Brass Taps Pizza Pub. “We’ve already lost so much money and we’re so inconvenienced.

“We’re the life of this neighbourhood. We’re the ones providing the atmosphere here, the employment here.”

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