‘Millions’ to fix Civic Services Complex

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This article was published 06/10/2023 (810 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

An investigation into the cause and extent of the damage to the city’s Civic Services Complex on Richmond Avenue continues, nearly a month after a natural gas line explosion shook the structure on Sept. 7. But Brandon’s general manager of operations, Patrick Pulak, can already tell that the cost of necessary repairs will not come cheap.

“Millions of dollars,” Pulak said Thursday. “We still don’t know the exact number until they’ve completed their assessment, but it’s millions of dollars.”

Thankfully, Pulak says the building is still quite salvageable and repairable, in spite of rumours to the contrary.

“I can tell you with complete surety that the building is not a writeoff. Not even close,” Pulak said. “There’s certainly some damage to some structural walls and to the mechanical room and to parts of the roof, but the vast majority of the building is unharmed.”

It’s believed that the gas line blast originated from the building’s mechanical room, causing a concussive wave that put major strain on surrounding support structures. One city employee was transported to the hospital to treat their injuries from the explosion. That employee is now recuperating at home, until they’re deemed fit to return to work.

Pulak has heard concerns that the building had been written off following the blast — a rumour that he soundly refuted on Thursday, saying that no one who is associated with the investigation has ever considered the building to be lost.

“What the building is, is nobody can be in it because of the uncertainty of some of the structural wall.”

At the time, the initial investigation was trying to determine whether city employees could fully or partially occupy the building within a week or two of the incident. At the present time, regular employees are still barred from entering the building, a situation that may well continue for a full year.

Until now, investigators have not been able to access the mechanical room to do a forensic analysis of what happened, as concerns remained about the safety and stability of the structural support walls. Work has been ongoing to shore up these areas, including the ceiling and the roof that is supported by those walls.

“There has been opinions as to what’s happened, but until they can get in there and really spend some time in there … That’s why it’s taken so long to try and get this done.”

Thus far, Pulak says, investigators have been able to conduct only some of the work while the building is in its current situation. An area of the building where the blast occurred has been designated a no-go zone because of the safety concerns.

“I’m hoping that within the next two or three weeks that’s complete, they can then continue to go in, and go into the mechanical room and continue their investigation,” Pulak said. “In the meantime we continue to look at what needs to be repaired. … But I will tell you that the building will remain unoccupied until such time as those repairs are completed.”

An anonymous caller to the Sun this week also expressed concerns over the city’s insurance to cover the cost of repairs to the complex. But Pulak says that’s a non-issue.

“We’re not even close to our limit on what the insurance will cover,” Pulak said. “At this point in time, any information that I’ve been provided by the insurance companies, we’re not close to it. Knowing that we’ve still got to continue to do a bit of an assessment, costs may go up higher. But from my perspective and from what I’ve heard, we’re not going to reach that.”

In the meantime, the city has found some office space that will be used to re-establish a front desk area for the public. An announcement from the city on the location and details is pending, Pulak said.

For the last month, the city’s bus fleet that normally used the fleet maintenance section of the Civic Services Complex have been housed in one of the other smaller buildings found on the same property.

Discussions are underway with Assiniboine Community College to utilize the institution’s industrial mechanic shop at the Victoria campus to house the city’s bus fleet while repairs to the building are completed.

“I think, right now it’s just really ironing out some of the details so that we can move in there until such time as our building is completely repaired,” Pulak said.

» mgoerzen@brandonsun.com

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