Target: October opening for Tim Hortons

CONCRETE ACTION: Foundation work is carried out at the site of the planned Tim Hortons in Maple Creek.

The Tim Hortons project is kicking into high gear after a delayed start because of COVID-related supply chain issues.
Work by Drumheller-based Canalta Real Estate Services is expected to take about six months to complete.
“In the early part of October, we should be open and serving coffee to the Maple Creek public,” said Merv Vaadeland, project superintendent on Friday.
Meanwhile, more details have emerged about the project, which will feature a 2,200 square foot store:
• There will be a single building with a double-lane drive-through merging into a single lane;
• Two menu boards will be placed on the south end;
• A single lane will go up the east side of the building, where the drive-through window will be;
• A sit-down restaurant area will have capacity for 38 people;
• There will be three washrooms: universal, unisex, and one for staff;
• Inside the entrance will be a service area with a doughnut cabinet, and place for muffins and bagels;
• Other inside features include a kitchen, drive-through area, walk-in cooler and freezer, mechanical room; and
• Outside will be a patio for people to enjoy their coffee
The project site is off Highway 21, over the railway tracks near the Pioneer Co-op liquor store.
The approach road towards the proposed Tim Hortons will be moved so it is farther from the tracks and aligned with 1st Avenue North. It will then connect with a service road.
Anyone passing the area over the last week will have noticed increased activity at the site. Perimeter fencing has been erected, multiple construction stakes planted, and the boundaries of the planned building marked.
On Saturday, a structural engineer from Toronto inspected the rebar and the way it reinforces concrete grading.
; engineering approval is needed as the process continues.
Tuesday (April 26) was another big day with the pouring of the grade beam for the building’s foundation. The News-Times was present to photograph concrete coming down the chute of a KCG truck
Site work is starting this week; it will be followed by grading, cuts and fills.
“Activity will be much more visible,” said Vaadeland.
Looking ahead, paving will probably occur in middle-to-late June, before asphalt is introduced and then the building is erected.
Once complete, Canalta, owners of the land and building, will lease to Tim Hortons.
When the project was announced last year, a start date in the second half of January was expected.
Vaadeland, however, said equipment had proved hard to get, especially rooftop units and make-up air units. For example, he added, Tim Hortons was interested in a Lennox rooftop unit with a dehumidifier in it.
“So, we enquired as to when we could see that roof top unit from Lennox and we are sixth in the queue. I mean it shows our buying power, but even with being sixth in the queue, the soonest we could get that was August 19. So, then we asked ourselves why go to the added expense of winter heat for the concrete for the foundation when you can’t have a completion date until probably early part of October. So, that’s why the project was delayed.”
Vaadeland said now was a good time to start.
“Frost is out of the ground, and the weather is in our favour. We also just missed the big storm that hit the area.”
The number of workers on-site will vary, said Vaadeland last Friday.
“Right now, I just have a crew of four concrete guys. Then next week we will do back fill and I’m using local company Davis Excavating & Contracting for that. Then the following week we will do our under slab plumbing rough-in. There will probably be a crew of three from Walton Mechanical doing that, out of Regina.”
The electrical company, said Vaadeland, will be Flyer Electric out of Swift Current.
“I believe the bid package got sent out to quite a few local companies – although some are busy with prior commitments that means they can’t take on a project of this size in such a tight schedule.”
Vaadeland, who hails from north of Saskatoon, but is originally from the Big River area, said he had been involved in several similar projects.
“I’ve been to Maple Creek before. I did the convention centre in the Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park back in 1987 or 1988, at Loch Leven. I lived in Maple Creek for almost a year. It’s a beautiful place, I love it here.”
Vaadeland, who recently completed an A & W in Regina, has been in Maple Creek about two weeks.
He is booked at Willowbend, but once temporary power is available on-site he will stay in a holiday trailer.

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