Parts of Ontario Power Generation building on University collapses
Posted February 29, 2012 11:01 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Part of a building that houses the Ontario Power Generation (OPG) on University Avenue at College collapsed Wednesday morning.
While the damage looked dramatic, an OPG spokesman said the incident didn’t pose any danger to the building, which is sound, or the people inside.
Witness Pia Famiglietti got off the subway and was heading to Mount Sinai Hospital when it happened around 10:30 a.m.
“I just got off the subway … and when I was walking by it just started to crunch and come down a little bit. I called 911 — it was scary,” she said. “I thought the building was collapsing. I wasn’t sure what was going on.”
Some large pieces of drywall on an overhang at 700 University Ave. fell, prompting police to cordon off the area and temporarily close the southbound lanes of the busy street. The area has since reopened to traffic.
“A portion of the building, which is under construction, has collapsed. It’s described as a roof,” Toronto Police Const. Wendy Drummond said.
No injuries were reported. No one was walking in the area because it had already been cordoned off a few days ago as a precaution because the building manager noticed some problems.
OPG spokesman Ted Gruetzner said an engineering firm is at the site investigating. A cause hasn’t been determined but some speculate the high winds on Wednesday may have been a factor.
“Earlier today we noticed a little bit of it was loose and we took the precaution of cordoning it off and we don’t want to speculate on the cause but it has been very windy,” he told CityNews.
“[The damage] does look spectacular, but it’s not a sign that the building is in any danger or anything like that,” he added.
A Bank of Montreal branch in the area was closed and staff were asked to leave. No other evacuation orders were put in place.
