[FONT=Verdana]The downtown Halifax highrise that houses the provincial Department of Health needs $24 million worth of repairs, according to an engineering firm.[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana]CBCL Ltd. also found the Joseph Howe Building needs $400,000 of work to address immediate health and safety concerns.[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana]No matter what cabinet decides, creating a suitable home for the hundreds of people who work in the 13-storey building won't be cheap, said Murray Scott, the minister responsible for public works.[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana]"This will be the single largest renovation the government has done," said Scott.[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana]According to CBCL, much of the 33-year-old building is at or beyond its normal life span, including the heating and cooling system, windows, roof, electrical systems, plumbing and even the emergency generator.[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana]When the backup generator was put to the test, it caught on fire.[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana]The consultants recommend the building be emptied, gutted and rebuilt.[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana]The renovations can go ahead floor by floor as long as people who work in the building are ready to put up with "considerable hardship," the report said.[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana]Proceeding slowly while the building is occupied could add another $6 million, Scott said.[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana]"Then there's also the option of disposing of the building, so government will have to make a decision as to what it wants to do," he said.[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana]The province will have to foot the bill for renovating the structure or tearing it down. But it won't own the building until 2012, when a lease-to-buy arrangement matures and it officially takes possession of the highrise engineers feel is well past its prime.[/FONT]