Roof of community storage facility collapsing
Tara Kearsey
Northern News Services
Tsiigehtchic (Feb 05/01) - A $30,000 community storage facility in Tsiigehtchic is about to collapse and so far the manufacturer has done nothing but ignore calls for corrective action.
"It hasn't fallen down yet, but it's getting close," said senior administrative officer Colum McCready.
"It's a gross disappointment."
The building purchased from First Choice Steel Buildings of Markham, Ont. in September 1999, is expected to cave in any minute from the weight of heavy snow resting on its roof.
Residents and local businesses use it to store building materials. Hamlet officials noticed the roof was sagging in mid-January. The dome-shaped roof is flattened, the doors are jammed shut.
"A lot of our stuff is still in it and we can't go into it of course because we don't want to risk it," said McCready.
Richard Stewart of TSE Construction said the company has put some projects on hold because they can't get at their building materials.
"I wouldn't try to go in there right now. If we try to pop under those doors the whole building could come right down," he said.
McCready said the building's collapse is not the fault of those who assembled it.
"The problem is it isn't suitable for this type of climate,"he said.
"If (the manufacturer) had told us that it couldn't take heavy snow loads, we would have said 'thank you very much, we no longer want your building.'
"This experience has been an embarrassment to us, an expensive embarrassment."
First Choice Steel's web site says the buildings are "engineered to withstand the most severe weather conditions including heavy snow, hurricanes, tornadoes and even earthquakes.
"If a problem does arise, highly trained service technicians are only a phone call away," the web site promises.
McCready called the company's service number several times, but it "doesn't seem to work.
"I have been leaving messages, but no response - they don't even have an e-mail address!"
News/North reached a voice mail box for First Choice Steel Buildings. A message was left, but phone calls were not returned.
