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Library Closure nears six months as Pearson Plaza landlord struggles with roof repairs

99 per cent of books can't be easily accessed even for curbside service, says CAO
08-31-18 city of elliot lake
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If you're an avid reader or seeking video movie rentals in Elliot Lake, you'll have to wait a while longer for the city library to re-open its doors.

At Elliot Lake's VIrtual City Council meeting Monday night, city CAO Daniel Gagnon told Councillors that the landlord in the Pearson Plaza faces costly roof repairs in "the hundreds of thousands of dollars" which must be completed before the library can resume operations.

"I just need to remind the public that the library has been closed since late January, completely unrelated to COVID, because of roof leaks," Gagnon said.

"I can say that the landlord is still struggling with the scope of work when it comes to the roof repairs. They have not happened to date. COVID has distracted and slowed everything down. There is no reason why the landlord cannot fix the roof immediately. Certainly he's struggling with the scope of work and what version of the roof repair he does.

"I can say both versions are worth several hundreds of thousands of dollars so we're not talking about a little bit of caulking here where something has gone awry. We're talking about a rather large scope of work to do the repairs to the roof. However long that will take it's anyone's guess. Even if Premier Ford announced there would be maybe curbside pickup for the library, 99 per cent of our books are in a space that we don't have access to because they're still in the construction zone scenario where the roof is leaking and hasn't been repaired yet.

"We're not able to get into that space to do any of the curbside pickup, or any alternative search services in a scenario. We are not paying any rent for any of the common areas or the former Turner's or the library space. So we don't have a ton of leverage in that sense, but we are obviously not happy with the situation. We would prefer to have access to the space that we're entitled to."

Last Jan. 7, the City’s Building Department issued an order to comply with the Ontario Building Code to clarify the cause and correct roof leaks visible at the Elliot Lake Public Library space and, to some degree, in an adjacent leased retail space in the Pearson Plaza

The building owner and landlord, McCowan and Associates of Barrie responded on Jan. 16 that it needed to close the library, the common areas and the leased retail space for remedial repair. 

Back then, Gagnon told Council, "The city is currently seeking clarification from the landlord as to the cause of the roof leaks, the scope of the repairs needed, and the length of the potential closure."



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About the Author: Brent Sleightholm

As a reporter, Brent has covered everything from amateur and professional sports, to politics, entertainment, police and courts, to human interest stories and government issues
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