Tenants at the Civic Centre may need to evacuate the city-owned building if Nelson receives a heavy snowfall this year.
City of Nelson’s facilities manager Sam Ellison, in a letter dated Oct. 4 to the building’s tenants, said that according to a consulting engineer the wooden trusses supporting the roof do not meet current minimum standards for snow load.
“There are some visual indications that the trusses have experienced overloading from past snow events,” the letter states. “(The engineer) has therefore advised the city to develop a plan to mitigate the risk to building owners.”
Ellison wrote that if snow loads exceed a specific level recommended by the engineer, the building may need to be temporarily evacuated as a safety measure.
His letter goes on to say that the building might have to be vacated for the remainder of the winter if “the mitigation plans are too difficult to administer or other factors are identified.”
A mitigation plan would be presented to the tenants by Oct. 15, Ellison wrote.
Ellison’s warning comes as the city completes the planning stages of a major renovation of the building.
In a news release dated Oct. 23, the city said the roof issue does not apply to the ice rink.
“The safety and well-being of our community members are paramount to us,” said Mayor Janice Morrison in a statement. “We are taking these concerns seriously and working diligently to address them. The Civic Centre has been a vital part of our city for generations, and it will continue to be a safe and welcoming space for our residents.”
The Nelson Star asked four of the five tenants in the building for a comment, and only one has responded.
“On receiving that advice, we have begun to make plans and preparations that will allow us to maintain our programs and services uninterrupted,” said Bob Schmitz, co-chair of the Nelson and District Seniors Coordinating Society.
He said such a move would not involve a serious disruption of services and that the organization could find a temporary location.
The other tenants in the building are the Civic Theatre, Glacier Gymnastics, Dance Umbrella, and Restorative Justice.
At city council’s Sept. 12 meeting, city manager Kevin Cormack briefly addressed the upcoming Civic Centre renovations that have been in the planning stages for several years.
He told council the project faces potential cost overruns because of inflation and the inability of the roof to hold heavy snow. He said the roof will be heavier once it is newly insulated as part of the renovation.
Cormack said the city has hired an engineering consultant to recommend how to bring the renovation project back within budget.
The Civic Centre renovation project has three parts — an energy retrofit, a new accessibility concourse, and a renovated theatre — each of which is a major project in its own right.
But the three parts are so structurally interrelated that they need to be done simultaneously.
The Civic Centre building is 87 years old and its construction pre-dates Canada’s national building code that was introduced in 1941. The city originally decided on the rebuild as an employment project in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
As of May, 2023, the budget for the project was $13.7 million, allocated as follows for the three parts of the project:
• Energy retrofit: $5.5 million, of which the city has received grants for 74 per cent of the cost.
• Accessible concourse: $4 million, of which the city has received a grant for 80 per cent of the cost.
• Civic Theatre: $4.3 million, of which the theatre has already received a $3.3-million grant and a line of credit from the city for the expansion from one screen to three.
In each case, the remaining funding must be procured through future grant opportunities or through borrowing.
This story was updated on Oct. 23 to include the fact that the roof problems do not affect the ice rink, and to include the quote from Mayor Janice Morrison.
READ MORE:
• City of Nelson hires project leader and architect for Civic Centre reno
• Nelson Civic Centre to receive $5 million in energy upgrades, renovations
• Nelson plans major renovation to Civic Centre as part of COVID-19 stimulus plan
