The demolition of the old Eaton’s department store building continued this week with the removal of parts of the cornice, sections of the eighth floor exterior walls and demolition activity in what was formerly known as “the annex”.
Electrical, water and sewer services to the walkway bridge that connected the annex with Cityplace (formerly Eaton Place) are now completely shut down. Piles will be placed under the Cityplace walkway bridge on the north side of Graham to support the structure of the bridge so that it can be physically disconnected from the annex. Most of the existing bridge will be re-used to connect the downtown walkway system through the MTS Centre to Cityplace when the entertainment centre opens in 2004.
The interior of the annex has now been gutted. The exterior cladding of the annex building along the Donald Street has been removed. These preparations will lead to the demolition of the entire annex structure later in September. Most of the structural steel and concrete will be sorted on the site as it comes down and salvaged for reuse.
The demolition of the top sections of the eighth floor walls and roof is most visible on both the Hargrave and Donald sides of the building. Large demolition curtains are held in place against the exterior walls by cranes and large metal containers are sitting on the ground immediately under the demolition activity to prevent any stray materials from flying outside the fenced site.
There continues to be a great deal of public interest in the demolition process. The Manitoba Public Insurance website (www.mpi.mb.ca) features a web cam view of the site looking north from MPI offices in the Cityplace building. Shaw Cable (cable channel 11) features a view of the Portage Avenue side of the site from a live camera positioned on Air Canada Building.
Demolition will continue until the entire site is cleared. Construction of the MTS Centre is expected to begin by January 15, 2003.
[MTS Centre Construction Demolition Archive]
