County Hall in Sherwood Park reopens - library, parkade remain closed
The county hall portion of the Strathcona County Community Centre in Sherwood Park is back in business and will reopen to the public on Wednesday, said Mayor Rod Frank.
About 200 employees are back at work in council offices, Frank said Monday.
"Moving back into county hall represents a significant moment in our journey to recover county buildings and to return to normal operations," Frank said. "This situation has been very unique, but we have turned the corner."
The complex, which houses the county's council chambers, community centre, library and meeting rooms, has been shut down since Nov. 6 when two explosions went off in the adjoining parkade.
"This building is back to 100-per-cent operation," said Diehl Townsley, director of facility services.
However, the part of the complex that houses the community centre and library remains closed.
"Because of the level of cleaning that's required we're anticipating it will take several months," Townsley said.
The timeline is based on a worst-case scenario that would involve, for example, the removal of carpets, he said.
A formal plan and timeline will be developed once the results of environmental assessments come back, Townsley said. About 300 staff are still displaced.
There are plans in place to have them all working in temporary locations while the cleanup is underway.
The greatest area of contamination is where the parkade connects with the centre, he said.
"We had a little bit of soot come through that location and because of that contamination this building went under a formal full clean," Townsley said.
There was some damage to concrete in the parkade at the blast site, which needs to be repaired, he said.
As well, some walls, blackened and rendered uncleanable by the fire, need to have the drywall replaced.
Library services have been moved to the pro-shop of the Broadmoor Golf Course at 2100 Oak Street.
The RCMP explosives disposal unit and the forensic identification unit continue to investigate.
