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Fraser Tower repairs complete
Renovations and repairs after fire cost $5.5 million

Kevin Allerston
Northern News Services
Published Wednesday, January 25, 2012

SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Renovations at Coast Fraser Tower are finally complete a year-and-a-half after a fire devastated the top three floors.

The occupancy permit making the building fully habitable was signed Oct. 5, 2011, but there was still some work needed to get the building furnished with the trappings one associates with a combination hotel and apartment building. That was all finished earlier this month.

The fire started on the 14th floor May 25, 2010, and destroyed the top three levels of the building. The combined repairs and renovations cost in excess of $5.5 million. The costs include completely rebuilding floors 11 through 14, repairing the roof, repairing lower rooms damaged by water and smoke, installing new electrical systems and a new fire alarm system, furnishings and other expenses.

The tower's general manager, Catherine Travis, said most of the tenants stayed in the building during the construction.

"We had maybe two move out because of construction," said Travis.

During the time of the construction the tenants were allowed to live in the hotel rooms. She said many of the tenants are still living in the hotel rooms rather than in the upper level suites, to spare them the expense of having to move a third time.

"The decision was to keep them where we relocated them to rather than moving them back up because the cost incurred by them having to move three times and the pain would have been really astronomical," said Travis.

Tower management added three new apartments, bumping the number of suites up to 41 from 38, while the number of hotel rooms stayed at 58. They were able to include the additional rooms by turning meeting rooms into apartments.

Travis said this spring the tower's balconies will be re-vamped with a design that will incorporate the blue from the upper portion of the building, but said she is not sure exactly what that will look like.

"We're just happy to be back up and running," said Travis.

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