Calgary’s historic city hall is crumbling and there might not be enough money to fix it.
The City of Calgary put scaffolding around the exterior of the building after potato-sized chunks of sandstone broke away from the north side of the facility.
The sandstone fell onto a balcony adjacent to the LRT platform on Tuesday, September 16th. The protective fence was erected the next day as a safety precaution.
“Sandstone is a water-soluble product,” explains Ward 6 Councillor Richard Pootmans. “It is old, it’s eroding, it’s disintegrating and we need an engineering solution.”
An audit is completed on City of Calgary-owned buildings every year, and officials say there just isn’t enough money to keep up with the repairs that are needed.
“Calgary is such a growing city, it’s really challenged to meeting all of the needs that it has for growth and for maintenance,” says Sharon Purvis, Corporate Properties and Buildings, City of Calgary
A report issued in July found it would cost $150 million to repair both Historic City Hall and the Municipal Building.
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