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A city hall committee could not agree on what to do with the redevelopment of the St. Lawrence Market North building, which is facing a 20% budget increase before shovels even hit the ground.

The project, first approved in 2010 for $74.9-million, is now slated to cost $91.5-million, but for a pared-down version by Adamson Associates Architects General Partnership and Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners that takes a more conventional approach to design.

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The idea is still to turn a one-storey brick building — constructed in 1968 and situated across the street from the St. Lawrence Market — into a multi-storey facility that houses provincial courtrooms, administrative offices, an art gallery, restaurant, 250 underground parking stalls, a “kitchen incubator” and Farmers’ Market area. The court space will consolidate services currently located in three locations.

City staff blamed the higher price tag — which has yet to be approved by city council — on more detailed design work, having to dig deeper in the ground for the garage, and inflation. They said the initial design estimate approved by the city was “preliminary” and always subject to vary by up to 25%.