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A building complex housing multiple government offices and public buildings is closed in Fort Nelson, B.C., due to potential structural issues.
According to Mayor Rob Fraser of the Northern Rockies Regional Municipality, staff in the municipal complex heard “a sizeable crack” Thursday, leading to an investigation.
“It looks like we have some trouble with a couple of trusses that may have cracked,” he told CBC Radio West host Sarah Penton.
The building’s roof is flat, he said, and there is a heavy accumulation of snow bearing down on it.
“We’ve got more snow here than we’ve had in many, many years,” he said. “We’ll see what the engineers say, but I suspect that has something to do with it.”
Impacted facilities include the town hall, library, Phoenix Theatre, a daycare, provincial service centre and Northern Health mental health services.
The municipal complex, Fraser said, was originally a hotel built in the 1970s and has since been turned over to a three-winged building that is a mix of public offices and rental properties.
A senior’s complex that occupies one wing is not impacted.
Engineers are on site providing an assessment, while workers have been relocated or sent home.
