Gas leak in downtown Hamilton

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Gas leak in downtown Hamilton

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Voice Report from Gavin_Cummings

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sourced by Gavin_Cummings

"Hello. This is Gavin Cummings, reporting a gas leak at a historic sight the...Lister Block in down town Hamilton. Activity came to a halt, on King Williams Street yesterday evening as gas poured out of one of Hamilton's most historic buildings. Residents in the area were left in a panic and shop keepers were told to close down for the day. The imposing 6 story retail office building, known as The Lister Block, has been a prominent down town land mark since it's construction in 1923. It's height, corner location, large double street frontage and architectural design have all contributed to a dominant character. As Hamilton's oldest surviving major retail office complex, with a licensure arcade, The Lister Block also ranks among the city's best surviving examples of the decorative views of Terra Cotta. This building is one of the distinctive buildings designed by a local architectural firm, Bernard Prack & Co who also designed the tall gothic-inspired, 1929 Pigott Building. With it's solid steel framed construction, The Lister Block is a prime candidate for adaptive re-use. The resurrection of the significant building, will promise a vibrant street life at the corner of King William and James. Police had no official comment but sources say, that the gas eruption started when a group of teens, gained illegal access to the condemned building. Once inside, the youths started throwing beer bottles and making noise. The fire department was told, a fire could have been brewing on the 3rd floor. Police and the Fire Department searched the building and found no sign of fire. Union Gas ws called in, to shut off the gas supply to this building (So the pipes could be repaired). Buses had to be re-routed and the street wouldn't be reopened until the early hours of the morning. "

Hamilton's mayor has ordered that this crumbling downtown building be torn down.
    "Our building chief, I want you to know has issued an order to demolish the building for safety concern, and the sooner the better because there's a worry of it falling down."
    -Fred Eisenberger, Hamilton Mayor
    Eisenberger issued the order Thursday morning after the building, on the contentious Lister Block site suffered a series of collapses.
    The most recent one happened at 9:30 am, when the roof caved in.  
    That prompted an emergency meeting of city officials to decide a course of action.
    "We have got LIUNA's support... there's full co-operation in terms of an action plan to get this building down."
     -Tim McCabe, Hamilton manager of planning and economic development 
     McCabe also says the demolition will probably take a week.
    Measures will be taken to protect the integrity of the walls of the Lister building itself.
    Despite what's happened McCabe says there has been no change so far to plans for the city to lease the structure.
    The Lister is been seen as a visual metaphor for Hamilton's downtown.  It has been in disrepair for several years while multiple plans for the building have come and gone.  
    It was constructed in 1924 and was Canada's first indoor shopping centre.
    It is on a federal government list of heritage sites at risk.

Photography c/o Christina Rudzinski