CHESTERVILLE — The roof of Ottawa’s revamped National Arts Centre was built right here in Chesterville, within the former Nestlé plant owned by Installation Deliveries Plus (IDP) Group Inc.
Assembly of the massive truss system and ceiling was carried out by Structurecraft Builders and subcontractor PCL Construction who temporarily occupied the factory rail-siding area for much of the summer.
IDP Group co-owner Hamed Asl revealed the NAC connection during an Oct. 21 event at the 171 Main Street address celebrating the firm’s official relocation from Ottawa and receipt of a $70,000 grant through the Eastern Ontario Development Program.
Asl’s company, now employing 10 people at the Chesterville site, specializes in government office furniture installation and project management. The 15-year-old firm has furnished complexes ranging from Atomic Energy Canada to the Royal Canadian Mint.
IDP bought the then-moribund 373,000-square-foot factory building and surrounding 40-acre site for $750,000 last November. While in the middle of bringing the shuttered factory up to condition, the firm landed the NAC contractors currently involved in the rejuvenation of the downtown Ottawa Centre in advance of Canada’s 150th anniversary next year.
For Asl, it was early proof of momentum and market demand for competitively priced warehouse space in the region, which IDP plans to lease out at one third of the going price in Ottawa, located only 40 minutes away.
“They brought all their trades down here from National Arts Centre, made the entire roof down here in modular sections,” reported Asl. “They changed a lot of the project to make it happen, but it worked for them, and it worked for us,” added the entrepreneur.
