Yellowknife (Feb 16/05) - A two-week road closure that grew into six weeks should come to an end next week.

A section of 51st Avenue between 48th and 47th streets will likely be blocked off for another week, according to Pat Guinan, owner/partner of Grand Central Developments. P> Construction of a new three-storey office building necessitated the closure.

"It does take some space to build a building such as that. We are waiting to swing in the last pieces of steel and once it is put into place, that will free up access to the entire area," Guinan said.

"We should then go back to normal with people walking and driving by without a problem," he said.

Guinan said no complaints have been brought to his attention with regard to the closure.

"We do realize it does create some problems," he said.

Dennis Kefalas, manager of the city's public works department, said the city had to renew a permit for the road closure, which originally was for two weeks.

"It's been renewed until the 22nd of February. It's been closed since Jan. 5," he said.

Kefalas said the city has received one complaint from a citizen about lack of access to one end of the alley adjacent to the building.

Several people who lived around the area said they were not informed of the closure.

One resident, who did not want to be named, said the road closure was inconvenient.

Kefalas said construction is going slower than anticipated.

"But I think with the cold weather and the crane, things don't go as fast. They were probably optimistic when they applied for the permit."

Construction began on the $3.5-$3.7 million project in mid-September and Guinan anticipates a July 1 grand opening.

Kefalas said the city does not usually close a road for construction.

"We are pro-development. Under certain circumstances, we do make allowances," Kefalas said.

"Given that specific location and lack of equipment areas for equipment operation and the fact the road is a low-end use section, we thought we would make an allowance for the situation."

The building will be 13,585 sq. ft. and the main entrance will be on 51st Avenue, with parking across the street.

The glass atrium lobby will have quarry-tiled flooring with an Isis state-of-the-art elevator, with wheelchair accessibility and braille numbering and a television monitor.

The second and third floors will contain glass blocks installed in the floor.

"I don't think we've seen such a state-of-the-art building in Yellowknife built by private sector in the last 10 to 12 years," Guinan noted. The front and side exterior will be a painted stucco-type material.