Advertisement

Montreal daycare claims small victory over big contractor

Click to play video: 'Sound barriers to block noise for Griffintown daycare'
Sound barriers to block noise for Griffintown daycare
WATCH: A Griffintown daycare forced to close for several days because of loud construction noise is now claiming a small victory. As Global's Amanda Jelowicki reports, the contractor has installed sound barriers – Apr 6, 2018

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

Click to play video: 'EXCLUSIVE: Noise forces Griffintown daycare to temporarily close'
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.

Story continues below advertisement

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

Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.

Get daily National news

Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.
By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.

“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

Click to play video: 'Construction noise closes daycare for second day'
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.

Story continues below advertisement

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.

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.

Sponsored content

AdChoices