Tom Sasvari
The Recorder
GORE BAY—Infrastructure Ontario has confirmed that the Gore Bay courthouse will be ready for re-occupancy by the end of next week.
Brendan Crawley, in the communications branch of the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General, in an email to the Recorder dated December 13 indicated, “cleaning of the attic area is complete. Work is now underway to clean all HVAC ductwork and install new attic insulation.”
As reported in previous editions of the Recorder, the courthouse building has been closed for the past several weeks due to the discovery of mould, asbestos and bat guano in the building, with work to clean the building of these substances having been carried out.
“Staff will continue to work from alternate locations until additional testing and cleaning is complete and all issues have been addressed,” said Mr. Crawley. “Continued air quality testing will be conducted throughout the remaining cleaning process.”
Mr. Crawley explained, “while work is being completed, arrangements have been made for staff access daily between 8 am and 9 am and 12 pm to 1 pm Monday to Friday to retrieve essential items. As confirmed by Infrastructure Ontario and per the Ministry of Labour provisions, all remediation work will be halted while staff is in the building.”
“Infrastructure Ontario has confirmed that the building will be ready for re-occupancy on December 23, 2011,” continued Mr. Crawley. “Re-occupancy of the building is likely to occur early in January 2012. To support the continued operations of court operations, a phased re-occupancy schedule is currently being developed which may see some functions reoccupy earlier than January.”
Updated information will be shared with court users and staff as it becomes available, said Mr. Crawley who added, “health and safety of staff and the public remains our number one priority.”
