Cause of roof collapse at East Lions Community Centre still unknown
CBC
Cleanup work is underway at the East Lions Community Centre in London, Ont. after a section of the exterior roof collapsed.
A portion of the overhang that stretches along the north walkway leading into the main doors fell off Friday, according to city staff, forcing the closure of the east-end recreation centre located off of Wavell Street.
Staff proactively removed the same roof section on the south side.
"Right now both entrances are fenced off," said deputy mayor Shawn Lewis, who is also the councillor for the ward. "We have a little bit of investigative work to do, but we're really hoping that we can move pretty quickly in the next couple of days to get the building back open and programs up and running again."
On Sunday, the soffit and other material had been collected and secured behind fences. The metal beams of the roof remained exposed.
The East Lions Community Centre has been open for just over a year after delays and issues between the initial contractor and subcontractors. The city took over the $21M project after it fired Jasper Construction in 2020 following complaints of non-payment by subcontractors.
Perini Construction eventually took over the work.
On Sunday, the cause of the collapse was still unknown, however city engineers were working to try to understand what happened. Lewis said the Ministry of Labour will also be on site next week for an inspection.
All recreation programming has been cancelled at East Lions Community Centre until those assessments are finished.
"I am very hopeful that at some point during this coming week we will be resuming our swimming lessons and our yoga classes, and all of the other programming. I don't anticipate this being a very long closure," Lewis said.
The 42,000 square foot community centre on the grounds of East Lion's Park on Churchill Avenue includes an indoor pool, gymnasium, multi-purpose activity space, community kitchen and artisan space.