After a partial collapse of a downtown parking garage on Slater Street early Wednesday, city officials were preparing for the potential demolition of the four-storey structure.
Fencing, trucks and excavators surrounded the garage all morning as structural engineers continued to assess the structure’s status.
Patrice Dumais, program manager for building code services with the City of Ottawa, said the building was still a hazard and Slater Street would be closed for the day. He said full demolition was a possibility, but nothing could be done before receiving an assessment from structural engineers, who were currently investigating.
“It’s very difficult for us to give a timeline, obviously as quickly as possible, but we have to prioritize public safety and the workers’ safety as well,” Dumais said.
“It’s a privately owned building, so it’ll be up to the building owner to determine what they do,” he said. “But I can’t imagine anything happening but complete demolition, especially with a development slated to replace it soon.”
If demolition is to go through, Dumais said, hydro service must be shut off, vehicles need to be removed, the street needs to be cordoned off and the structure must be temporarily shored.
Prior to Tuesday, Dumais said, there were no known issues with the structure. In the days before, a large pile of snow could be seen on the garage’s northwest corner, which later collapsed. However, Dumais was hesitant to cite heavy snow accumulation as the sole cause of the structural failure.
“We’ve had significant snowfall. It rained (Tuesday), obviously creating more weight, so for sure the snow didn’t help, but to say that that’s the sole cause is way too early to determine.”
John Buck, chief building official for the City of Ottawa, said Wednesday that a passerby noticed girders in the garage buckling and called 911.
“Right now our priority is to ensure the safety the area, that everything’s cordoned off and police are on site,” Buck said. “I do understand that there was excessive snow piled up on the top level of the garage. It’s premature to speculate on the exact causation, but I’m led to believe that the snow as contributary.”
Both the city and the building’s owner had engineers on site assessing the structure, he said. Police remained on site and the sidewalk and a portion of the roadway remained cordoned off.
“At some point I expect there will be fencing in place, jersey barriers, but our main priority now is to ensure that the structure that does remain is indeed stable and it reaches its equilibrium point. We don’t know that right now,” he said.
The parking garage was built in 1989. Buck said the cars trapped inside weren’t likely going to be able to be removed any time soon.
“I do understand that a portion of the compromised structure did include the vehicular ramps, so that could undoubtedly create some major logistical concerns with vehicles being trapped in the existing structure,” he said.
Buck couldn’t say if Wednesday’s collapse meant other structures in the city were similarly at risk.
“It is cause for pause to ask ourselves and reflect, especially in light of heavier snowfall. And, of course, if it rains and the rain gets trapped in the snow, it creates heavier loads on buildings. We’re not there yet, but it does cross our minds.”
Buck also said it wasn’t yet known whether the remaining structure could be repaired or would be demolished entirely, though around 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday heavy machinery was seen removing part of the structure.
“The safety of the site remains the city’s top priority,” a late afternoon statement from Buck added. “Building Code Services (BCS) remain on site at the Laurier Avenue West/Slater Street parking structure as the investigation continues. Isolated demolition is currently underway to secure the site, which will allow engineers to complete their investigation.
“It’s important to note that BCS’ role is to ensure a safe environment and respond to unsafe conditions. Further details on the cause of the structural issues are best addressed by the garage owner.”
In a news release, Ottawa Fire Services said a 911 caller noticed damage to a column on one of the garage’s pillars Tuesday afternoon. Upon investigation by fire services, it was confirmed that at least five of the structure’s girders were bowing.
After crews arrived and cleared the building, a section of the parkade collapsed, as seen in a video posted by Ottawa Fire Services.
At the site, Dumais said it also wasn’t known if any of the vehicles trapped inside could be returned to their owners, though he said any vehicles in the area of the collapse were a “writeoff.”
Ann Burchell, originally from Ottawa, but now living in Toronto, parked her car in the garage on Tuesday, as it was recommended by her hotel. Scheduled to check out Tuesday afternoon, she was given a notice that the garage was unsafe and that she couldn’t retrieve her car.
“It could have happened while I was in there to get the car out because I was supposed to leave yesterday afternoon and I delayed my departure by a couple hours,” Burchell said.
She said she came down to her hotel lobby around 6:30 a.m. on Wednesday to return to Toronto, but found out the garage had been completely cordoned off following the collapse.
“None of us are allowed in, so the thing to emphasize is it’s a really good thing that somebody noticed and nobody got hurt,” she said.
“Everybody’s rallying together it seems to keep themselves updated and it’s been a drama. This doesn’t happen every day.”
Ottawa police said owners of vehicles inside the structure were instructed to email Indigo, which owns the facility, at [email protected] with the subject header of 265 Laurier Ave for updates.
Indigo said Wednesday it was waiting to hear back from property management and that it hadn’t yet heard anything definitive.
With files from Blair Crawford
