When life gives you lemons, turn them into lemonade. When a devastating wind storm knocks down your trees, turn them into furniture.
That’s exactly what Viamede Resort owner and general manager Ben Samann did after last year’s derecho caused widespread damage at the Stoney Lake resort, by using the downed trees as part of a rebuild project that saw nine brand-new cabins completed in just six months.
According to Ben, the rapid pace of the build is all owed to the crew at Peterborough’s Mortlock Construction Inc., who were hired on as the construction manager for the project.
“I don’t know what stops they pulled out, but I don’t think anybody has ever seen anything like this, especially given the quality of the workmanship,” says Ben. “We didn’t make sacrifices to get there. It was a push but we got there, and it’s fantastic.”
On May 21, 2022, a derecho — a widespread and long-lived windstorm associated with a line of rapidly moving showers or thunderstorms — moved across southeastern Ontario, resulting in sustained winds of up to 120 kilometre per hour that toppled hydro transmission towers and broke utility poles, damaged homes, and uprooted trees, with broken branches also taking down power lines and damaging property.
Ben recalls it only took 10 minutes for the derecho to leave its mark on Viamede Resort.
“It was complete destruction,” he says, describing trees that had gone through windows and knocked in roofs, picnic tables that were in trees, roofs that were on the tennis court, and docks that had snapped off their anchors. “It was just complete chaos — absolute chaos on a scale that we’ve never seen before. We’ve never lost a tree in a storm, let alone twenty.”
One of the cottages had to be demolished relatively quickly, while the others required repairs. Between the repairs and power loss, the resort was closed for a week before it re-opened.
While the repaired cabins were able to be used for the busy summer season, Ben decided it was time to do what he had been wanting to do for a long time: rebuild the aging and outdated buildings. Last August, he began site planning, a task that he says took much longer than he anticipated. The old cabins were torn down in November and Mortlock Construction began rebuilding in February.
Viamede Resort had previously worked with Mortlock Construction a few years before when building their indoor pool. One of the biggest things that drew Ben to work with Mortlock Construction again was vice president Craig Mortlock’s commitment to honesty and dedication. For example, Craig admitted it would be a challenge to finish the rebuild by Ben’s desired date of July.
“It’s nice to work with somebody who’s not trying to mislead you at any point,” Ben says. “He’s honest and he’s open.”
For Craig, that’s all part of the job.
“We just believe in fully collaborative, fully cooperative approach and fully transparent approach with our clients,” he explains. “We believe that relationships are the basis of our business.”
Part of the process of rebuilding the cottages involved repurposing all of the trees on the property that were downed by the derecho, by turning them into pieces to furnish each of the cabins — everything from coffee tables to shelving and the bathroom vanities.
“We lost trees that were well over one hundred years old, and it just seemed like a shame to turn them into firewood,” Ben says.
Craig adds that incorporating the wood allowed the cabins to get their upgrades while still the rustic feel that was important to his client.
“It’s pretty cool that the trees that destroyed the old cabins are now incorporated into the construction of the new ones,” he says. “It’s a really neat full circle, fully sustainable approach.”
Along with the nine two-bedroom cabins decorated with furniture from the fallen trees, a new septic system was installed, the water treatment system was improved and relocated, and Mortlock Construction regraded and relandscaped part of the resort by removing two of the cottages and opening up the waterfront.
Ben says that the new cabins, which were all ready for use before the long weekend this past July, have cathedral-like ceilings and feel “airier” and “roomy,” with the large screened-in porches a favourite of guests. The cabins are being well-received, particularly by Viamede’s many returning guests who are able to compare the brand new cabins with the old ones.
“Mortlock absolutely killed it with this project,” says Ben. “I don’t know how it came together so quickly. I really don’t. I think we’re all still a little bit confused by it.”
For his part, Craig praises not only his team but all the local subcontractors, designers, and suppliers who had a part in moving the project along so quickly. He lists 41 local businesses that were involved in the rebuild.
“We have a strong foundation with those subcontractors to make sure that they were committed to this project,” Craig explains. “Being in this community for 76 years, we’ve established a number of very strong bonds with local tradespeople.”
He adds that 100 per cent of the money spent on the rebuild project was within a 75-kilometre radius of Viamede. Based on an economic multiplier, the construction project resulted in an approximately $20 million regional impact.
“We really believe in the values of social procurement and making sure that our dollars are having a social impact on the communities in which we live,” Craig says. “That’s another motivation for us to utilize local tradespeople. We want to make sure that those dollars that we are spending are staying within the community that we support and want to see thrive.”
For more information about Viamede Resort or to book one of the new cabins, visit viamede.com.
For more information about Mortlock Consruction Inc. and to view some of their other projects, visit mortlockconstruction.com.
