The contract awarded a Bishop’s Falls company to build the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the National War Memorial has been terminated.
In April, the province and Ocean Floor Granite agreed on a contract worth $105,000 for the construction of a tomb made of black granite from central Newfoundland and Labradorite from Labrador.
Owner Mark Brace, who in 2020 landed the largest deal to that date on Dragon’s Den, tells VOCM News the project was moving along fine, until about two months ago. That’s when an inspection team visited the company’s site and issued a stop work order because it was not connected to the power grid and running off a generator instead.
Brace was caught off guard, saying government was fully aware of the electrical situation before the project began.
He says government knew electrical upgrades were needed because they had applied for several government grants to do so. Brace even sent the videos of his diesel generator, which he claims government had no problem with, and proceeded with awarding the contract.
Time is of the essence for government to find a new supplier, as work at the site is supposed to be complete by July 1. Brace believes government will have a tough time finding someone who will do the job on time and on budget.
He says they won’t come close to finding a price that his company agreed to. If they decide to go with a company based out-of-province, they’ll still have to get their materials from him, as the company is the only group in North America that has the Labradorite and monumental black granite needed to complete the tomb.