All city hall staff displaced by extensive water damage to the Chatham-Kent Civic Center in early July soon will be able to return to the office.
A massive rainfall during the Canada Day weekend combined with a faulty roof drain left the first, second and third floors of the west side of the building with extensive water damage.
Repairs are nearing completion, said Robert Pollock, Chatham-Kent’s director of parks, fleet and facilities.
“We’re anticipating all the staff will be returned by Aug. 14, so everything will be done then.”
He added some work areas already have reopened.
Pollock said the breakdown of the cost of the damage includes $45,000 for restoration work, $60,000 for construction work along with some unknown costs for furniture and equipment once all staff returns. The affected staff has been working from home or other locations.
There was an initial concern regarding air quality after the flooding due to the amount of water in carpets and ceiling tiles.
“We did three air quality tests since it happened and the last results came in showing the air quality is appropriate for staff to come back into those areas of the building,” Pollock said.
He also noted the cost of the damage will be covered by insurance.
The flood damage was a body blow to the building constructed in 1977, which already has multiple issues.
A decision remains to be made by municipal council whether to renovate the building or construct a new city hall as part of a proposed community hub at the former Sears building in downtown Chatham.
In January 2020, council voted down a staff recommendation to do $18.1 million in renovations to the Civic Centre, which included moving council chambers to the first floor. The report also called for replacing the HVAC system along with doing major structural, electrical, lighting, window, flooring and plumbing repairs.
“We’ve been pushing the renovations off for years,” Mayor Darrin Canniff said in a previous interview.
“The building may look fine, but with it being an older structure, it has a lot of issues,” he said.