Convention centre in dire need of repair
Faltering bricks need fixing now
The city needs to find at least $2 million to fix the crumbling exterior of the Hamilton Convention Centre to avoid the future possibility of bricks falling on people below.
That capital funding request is just a fraction of nearly $7 million in convention centre repairs deemed to need “immediate action” this year or next — as well as another $4 million to replace failing escalators and elevators in the FirstOntario Centre.
A study of the convention centre brick earlier this year discovered loose or crumbling brick at various locations around the 35-yearold building, spurring immediate brick removal and repairs as well as unspecified “adjustments” to exit locations to ensure public safety, a new report says. But more work is needed, soon. “It is suggested that spalling brick faces will pose a safety hazard in the future, if not further addressed,” say staff in the report, which note weakened areas of brick will worsen during freezethaw cycles.
The report asks council to approve $2 million as a priority in next year’s capital budget.
It also notes a study of the entire building has found $6.7 million in repairs that deserve “immediate action,” but acknowledges the challenge of competing budget requests — including a separate and urgent $4 million for FirstOntario Centre.
The information comes in two separate reports headed to a city budget meeting Friday.
The reports outline a combined
$45 million in required — but unfunded — repairs to the city’s three aging entertainment facilities in the core, which also includes Hamilton Place.
The $4 million request for the former Copps Coliseum would cover replacing four failing escalators, installing a new elevator and “modernization” of two existing elevators.
That budget request comes as the owner of the facility’s main hockey tenant, the Hamilton Bulldogs, muses publicly about the prospects and costs of building new arena.
The city normally allocates only $800,000 for annual capital repairs to all three buildings.
But that amount does not even cover the bare minimum recommended exterior repairs to the convention centre, which include:
replacement of all bricks in unspecified locations;
repair or replacement of corroded steel beams;
replacement of “compromised” portions of a structural composite deck.
It is suggested that spalling brick faces will pose a safety hazard… CITY REPORT