URGENT WORK ORDER FOR CBD HAZARD

OWNERS of a dangerous building in Geelong’s CBD have been ordered to urgently address unstable foundations.

Assessments have uncovered multiple pockets of space underneath an infill slab in the basement of the Belcher’s Corner building.

Owners corporation committee chairman Nathan Holmes said Geelong council had ordered emergency work be carried out over the next 48 hours to stabilise the site.

“We need to do about 50 core samples to determine where the voids are,” he told the Geelong Advertiser yesterday, adding that when the holes were found, they must be filled in with concrete.

The necessary work follows the issuing of an emergency order on Friday, which requires the central Geelong building to be demolished by the end of the year.

It was found to be at risk of collapse and susceptible to fire, with the basement masonry retaining walls impacted by severe concrete cancer.

Mr Holmes said owners were “at breaking point” and worried they would not meet the increasing demands.

He said the ongoing need to address individual issues was making it difficult to plan and budget for an overall works program and the long-term future of the site.

“It is hard to understand how much money we will need to do the whole job,” Mr Holmes said. “We are a bunch of small-time business owners or investors — the costs that we’re incurring are quite significant.”

The owners corporation was considering imposing a levy on owners to meet the influx of bills, Mr Holmes said.

Mr Holmes said the demolition plan would likely require part of the adjoining Hopetoun Chambers to come down, leading to more businesses being forced to evacuate.