CORNWALL, Ontario – At their budget meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 2, Cornwall City Council heard that the Justice Building at 340 Pitt St. had mold in the building after leaks from the walls on the fourth floor.
The topic came up as city administration requested $600,000 for new cladding on the outside of the fourth floor to ensure that future leaks do not occur.
“For some reason, the fourth floor of the Justice Building has cracks between the mortar and the bricks and in the bricks itself and in driving rain, water is infiltrating the building,” said Neil Dixon, the City of Cornwall’s Facility Manager. “We had an issue with the Ministry of Labour because water was getting into the building, we had mold on some of the drywall. So we dealt with that. As a band aid solution we were able to source brick sealant and we were able to spray that on the building and that almost eliminated most of the water coming in, but it is a band aid solution and we don’t know how long that is going to last.”
This issue was not unique to the Justice Building, Dixon explained that there was a sister building located on Second St. E. that had experienced similar issues.
Dixon told council that municipal employees reported the issue to the Ministry of Labour.
The new metal cladding will be funded from the Municipal Buildings Reserve and not from the tax base in 2021. The cladding on the building will also help with the building’s thermal efficiency.
Jamie Fawthrop, Director of the City’s Parks and Recreation department said that the issues on the fourth floor was the only problem with the Justice Building that stood out and that it should be viable for the next 10 years at least.
Both Mayor Bernadette Clement and Councillor Syd Gardiner noted that the Justice Building housed a large number of municipal employees and departments who’s health and interests should be taken care of.
