Last flood damaged City building set to re-open

On September 3, Old City Hall will re-open and some of the employees displaced as a result of the June flood will begin returning to the building. 

 

“Since the flood, a priority has been ensuring all citizens were able to continue to participate in Council and committee meetings and could access business services such as building permits or licenses ,” explains Sharon Purvis, Director of Corporate Properties & Buildings. “We were also committed to returning our displaced colleagues to safe and fully functioning buildings as quickly as possible. Old City Hall is the last building to re-open and we’re pleased to be able to welcome back our displaced colleagues.”

 

Old City Hall has been unoccupied since flooding in June damaged the mechanical and electrical systems that service the building. Old City Hall’s electrical and HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) systems as well as all safety systems have been repaired and  tested and verified as functioning normally, enabling staff to return to work.

 

However, it will take longer before staff who normally work on the first, third and fourth floors of Old City Hall to return to the building. “For improved efficiency and to reduce impact to employees, we will be undertaking building interior lifecycle needs such as replacing carpet and repairing and re-painting  walls in parts of Old City Hall while the building is partially vacant,” says Purvis. “The carpets on the first, third and fourth floors of Old City Hall are 16 years old and past their useful life. They were previously scheduled for a lifecycle replacement in the 2011-2014 period.”

 

As work is still being completed at Old City Hall, all Committee Meetings will continue to be held at the Deerfoot Junction III location.  Council Meetings will resume in Council Chamber beginning on September 9.

 

Although all of the key City buildings damaged by the flood are re-opened, work on these buildings continues.  Restoring functionality to the damaged basement levels of the three buildings in the Municipal Complex (Municipal Building, Old City Hall and the Administration Building) and additional work on damaged buildings electrical and mechanical systems remains to be completed. The City’s focus is now turning to ways to mitigate future risk to buildings and service delivery.

 

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