The demolition of the old Eaton’s department store on Portage Avenue enters its third month on schedule to be completed by January 15, 2003.
A crew of twelve demolition experts and labourers is making slow but steady progress under the direction of Dan McColman who has twenty-five years of experience taking apart big old buildings that have outlived their economic usefulness. McColman says that the safety of his workers and protection of downtown properties surrounding the site dictates thorough and cautious procedures be employed to every element of the job.
The major tasks of this past week included the manual removal of the last remaining rooftop “penthouse” and the top of the old elevator shafts, taking down the final section of roof and wall above the eighth floor of the building along Portage Avenue, the start of the demolition of the steel frame and concrete slab construction of the annex and the installation of the shoring below ground level along Donald Street with a series of steel and concrete piles to protect the street from damage.
Consult the True North website (www.truenorthproject.mb.ca) for up to date still photographs of the demolition activity. Contact True North for permission to reprint any of the posted demolition photos or to request other images of the demolition activity.
[MTS Centre Construction Demolition Archive]
