Montreal daycare claims small victory over big contractor

A daycare in Montreal’s Griffintown neighbourhood is claiming a small victory over a large construction company, after the contractor agreed to install temporary sound barriers on some of the windows.

Imagination Preschool is located on William Street, right next to a large construction site.

READ MORE: Montreal daycare closes due to construction noise

For six weeks, Canvar construction has been nailing 50-foot steel pilings into the bedrock to build a 27-storey apartment building.

The pilings are used to stop water from seeping into the eventual basement of the building.

A special — and noisy — hydraulic hammer is needed to get them into the ground.

WATCH BELOW:  Noise forces Griffintown daycare to temporarily close

2:32 EXCLUSIVE: Noise forces Griffintown daycare to temporarily close

The company concedes it’s the noisiest part of the construction project — noise decibel levels reached 100, when the maximum allowed was 70 and it became unbearable for the daycare.

“It was horrible, just horrible,” said Imagination owner Andrea Peplow.

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“It was so loud you could not speak to someone in front of you. We had to evacuated the building.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "It was so loud you could not speak to someone in front of you. We had to evacuated the building."

The daycare closed for two days last week, affecting 80 children and their parents.

READ MORE: Construction noise keeps daycare closed for 2nd straight day

Peplow grew so frustrated dealing with the contractor, she contacted Global News.

After Global did two stories last week, the city got involved.

WATCH BELOW: Construction noise closes daycare for second day

2:02 Construction noise closes daycare for second day

An inspector visited the site, ordering the contractor to install plywood on some of the windows where the kids play.

The company also insulated the room where the children sleep.

Andrea Peplow concedes her sunny daycare now looks like a basement, but she will take it.

“It’s helped a lot, so there is a lot of vibration, but it has muffled the sound. It should have been done a long time ago,” she said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "It's helped a lot, so there is a lot of vibration, but it has muffled the sound. It should have been done a long time ago," she said.

The construction company claims it didn’t realized there was a problem, but it maintains the noise is unfortunately unavoidable.

READ MORE: Virtual tour of Griffintown showcases Montreal’s early Irish history

“I am sure what they want is a park and not a building, but we are going to build it and it’s noisy,” said Canvar chief superintendent Alain Guibert.

All the steel panels are expected to be in place by Monday.

Construction is expected to last another 2-and-a-half years, and the contractor told Global News the noise won’t end until the building is standing.