Two months after a shooting forced the closure of Edmonton City Hall, the civic building will reopen to the public next week with new security measures in place.
Community members and visitors will be allowed to return to city hall on Monday, March 25.
“It is nice that city hall will be open to the public back again,” Mayor Amarjeet Sohi said.
“We needed to make some changes. Those changes are now implemented and people will be back in the community space in city hall to mingle with council members, meet with council members and hold activities as they have done in the past.”
Members of the public going inside will have to enter through a dedicated access point, and go through security screening and bag checks before entering the city room, the City of Edmonton said in a news release Wednesday afternoon.
All City of Edmonton staff and members of the media must wear visible identification while inside the building.
Anyone entering the building through the south corridor to access the Hallway Cafe or City Hall School, or those crossing through the corridor, will not need to go through security screening.
Stairwells will be locked for emergency use only and elevators will require City of Edmonton identification cards to operate. The city hall parkade remains restricted to authorized users, according to the city.
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Sohi said some changes to the building’s cameras were also made, and there will be an increased security presence at city hall.
The changes come after a security review was done following the January shooting. Sohi said he’s not yet sure if the security review and its recommendations will be released to the public.
“Sometimes, for security reasons, they need to remain private. But the steps that are being taken are quite visible.”
Sohi hopes restricting the parkade and elevators will not be permanent, but added that will be reevaluated as time progresses.
“City Hall is a vibrant gathering place for civic participation, celebration and commemoration,” city manager Andre Corbould said in a news release. “I am confident that we have achieved the appropriate balance of a safe and secure environment that is also open and welcoming.”
The final stage of the building’s phased reopening plan comes after a shooter opened fire inside the building on Jan. 23.
Police said the man was heavily armed when he entered the building through an underground parkade, fired a gun and lit several small incendiary devices, which caused a small fire outside an elevator.
No one was hurt, despite the building being full of people at the time. The bullets shattered glass and punctured ceilings and walls.
Since then, city staff have been working to replace glass panels, and repair walls, floors, carpets and doorways.
A phased approach to reopen the building started when Mayor Amarjeet Sohi, some councillors and city staff returned during the first week of February. In mid-March, more city employees returned to work in the building and some visitors were allowed inside for special events.
Earlier this month, RCMP said they believe the crime was politically motivated, meeting the threshold for terrorism charges.
Bezhani Sarvar, 28, has been charged with counselling commission of a terrorism offence and possession of property for terrorist purposes.
The Integrated National Security Enforcement Team said those charges are in conjunction with nine others that constitute terrorism offences, including intentionally possessing incendiary material while committing an indictable offence.
Sarvar is also charged with two counts of possessing a prohibited device, mischief, carrying a concealed weapon and possessing a weapon for the purpose of committing an offence.
— with files from The Canadian Press.
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