Work started Saturday to demolish a greater than a century-old constructing in downtown Vancouver, condemned as a result of its dilapidated situation had turn out to be a risk to public security.
Vancouver metropolis council ordered the demolition of the constructing at 500 Dunsmuir Road in December 2024 after an inspector discovered {that a} lack of upkeep had led to leakage from the roof and extreme rot all through the constructing.
The bottom ground within the southeast nook had additionally collapsed, elevating issues of catastrophic structural failure. Metropolis councillors had requested engineers to try to save heritage options, however employees decided doing so would have taken over a yr, an period of time that was not secure to attend.
“Sadly, we will’t save something,” Vancouver chief constructing official Saul Schewbs mentioned Saturday morning.
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“We are going to get it down safely and I might be joyful that the chance to the general public has been mitigated, however the truth that we’re shedding this constructing at the moment shouldn’t be consequence for town.”
Crews cordoned off sidewalks across the constructing and ordered the precautionary closure of companies on the north facet of Dunsmuir Road on Saturday, following a last-minute order from WorkSafeBC.
The town additionally closed Dunsmuir Road between Homer and Seymour streets and Richards Road from West Georgia to Pender streets for the work.
Schwebs mentioned the demolition would start on the northeast nook and transfer throughout the north facade, then to the northwest nook, working to the southwest.
Crews have been unable to entry the constructing to take away hazardous materials forward of time, however Schwebs mentioned mud suppression and air high quality monitoring have been in impact to scale back any dangers.
“We hope that it’s going to take about 36 or 40 hours of steady operation to knock the constructing down, so we must be accomplished someday late Sunday evening, early Monday morning,” he mentioned.
“The objective is to have issues return to regular as a lot as doable for the Monday morning commute.”
The town is now exploring its choices for authorized recourse towards the property’s proprietor, Holborn Properties.
“It’s extremely necessary that town drives a tough discount for any rezoning utility that Holborn brings ahead,” Vancouver Coun. Sarah Kirby-Yung mentioned.
“It’s actually essential that they don’t get a free move on this as a result of they allowed this constructing voluntarily to decay and we’re seeing the removing of a historic 100-year-old constructing right here within the metropolis of Vancouver, and so for them to come back ahead with none compensation or acknowledgement of what has occurred is absolutely troubling.”
Holborn has mentioned it sought to redevelop the property however was held up by delays and pink tape at metropolis corridor.
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