Somerset House [352 Somerset St] | 15m | 4f | U/C

[m0nkyman]

The Centretown News is reporting that the owner has been granted an injunction stopping demolition.

“If they demolish this building, there’s going to be a big lawsuit,” he said. “This is going to go on for years.”

[Jamaican-Phoenix]

I read that too. Let's hope he wins!!!

[AuxTown]

Well, get to work then! Make the building stable so that traffic can start back up in Centretown again. It's such a disaster and no one seems to be in any hurry to get things fixed! I hope they do a nice job fixing the building up.

[rodionx]

Looks like the city and the owner have come to an agreement, and they are going to work together to try to save the building. The injunction has been lifted.

http://ottsun.canoe.ca/News/OttawaAn...13912-sun.html

[Jamaican-Phoenix]

Originally Posted by rodionx

Looks like the city and the owner have come to an agreement, and they are going to work together to try to save the building. The injunction has been lifted.

http://ottsun.canoe.ca/News/OttawaAn...13912-sun.html

WOOHOO!!!

[harls]

They're doing a partial demolition of the east wall today.. I'm going to go check it out on my lunch break and snap some pics.

[harls]

Quite a few people were taking pics. Saw the Citizen, CBC as well as some curious onlookers..

The owner and his son were standing in the lot behind the building... nice people. I asked the son what he thought of them just tearing down the east wall.. he said, "I don't know why they just don't tear the whole thing down."

I waited for the 'money shot' of this mural coming down, but I had to get back to work.

The snow made for some pretty shitty conditions. I made a slideshow here for those who are interested.

[Jamaican-Phoenix]

Aw, damn! I love that mural!!!

I hope they replace it...

[AuxTown]

I saw some really cool perspective murals in Europe that made blank walls look like herritage building fronts. Ottawa could use a few of those, considering the number of spectacular blank faces we have. Great example from Sioux City, Iowa:



In Quebec City:



Ours, of course, would likely consist of Victorian-Style homes in order to blend into neighbourhoods like Centretown, the market, and the Glebe. Example from Pittsburgh:

[Jamaican-Phoenix]

Cool stuff.

[rodionx]

In case it hasn't already been posted somewhere in the forum, here's an interesting blog entry on that mural: http://www.robink.ca/blog/somerset-house-mural/

[agrigentum]

Does anyone have an update on this building. I moved from Ottawa just as the demolition was taking place and haven't read anything about it since.

[Ottawade]

The building is still sitting there, they have reopened the store next door, and the street is fully working again. Now I don't have to walk an extra 5 blocks to catch the bus which is nice.

[harls]

Yep, it was just the back end that was demolished - for now.

[agrigentum]

Does anyone have an update on this building? Does it look anywhere near completed yet?

[AuxTown]

There doesn't seem to be any action at all as far as I can see. Who is the current owner and what do they plan on doing with the structure? I would love to see that building beside it with the dollar store torn down as well and something built that would integrate better and that is around the same height as the Duke. Though, I think a vinyl siding house from the suburbs would integrate better than that pile of crap. Anyone have a picture?

[c_speed3108]

Sounds like Arlene Grégoire's name should be added to list of recently dumped city personnel....right along side the water filtration plant guy and the fleet manager at OC...

City urged demolition of historic building knowing it could be saved
CBC News has obtained reports the municipality tried to keep secret
Last Updated: Monday, July 14, 2008 | 12:34 PM ET CBC News

Engineering reports obtained by CBC News show that some City of Ottawa officials knew that a historic building could be saved even as they continued to order its demolition last October.

The city had closed the corner of Bank and Somerset streets after Somerset House partially collapsed.

The building was eventually spared from demolition when the owner agreed to carry out recommendations suggested by city engineers.

Bickering between the building's owner, T.K.S. Holdings, and the city kept the intersection closed for two months, causing serious loss of business for merchants in the area.

Now, engineering reports commissioned by the city and obtained by CBC News under the municipal freedom of information act suggest the dispute could have been settled much earlier.

Ottawa heritage developer Sandy Smallwood led a lobbying effort to save the historic building.

He told CBC News that rumours about the existence of the engineering reports are what tipped the balance in favour of saving Somerset House.

"It wasn't even the 11th hour. It was the 11th hour and 59th minute. The bulldozers were parked outside and ready to go," Smallwood said.

The city called off the demolition only when the building's owner agreed to do whatever those engineering reports recommended.

The city's chief building inspector, Arlene Grégoire, has declined to comment on the matter.

Even after receiving the freedom of information request from CBC News, the city initially refused to release the reports, claiming they were exempt from the act because the city is facing several lawsuits on the issue.

The documents were released after CBC News complained to provincial information and privacy commissioner Ann Cavoukian.

CBC News obtained other engineering reports that suggest a major excavation of the building's foundation, undertaken by the owner, likely led to the original partial collapse.

[Mille Sabords]

Unbelievable. To think there are still so many small-time suburban minds polluting the upper echelons of the bureaucracy. What would such a bureaucrat do in a European city?

[harls]

Another article from the Citizen...

City knew building could be saved

Despite an engineer's report, officials were set to demolish Somerset House, writes Jake Rupert

Jake Rupert, The Ottawa Citizen

Published: Wednesday, July 16, 2008

City officials were planning to demolish a 110-year-old heritage building at Bank and Somerset streets last year despite having a respected engineer's report that said the structure was not beyond hope.

The building, Somerset House, a former hotel and tavern, among other things, was being gutted Oct. 19 when it partially collapsed, trapping one worker. The exterior walls weren't supported properly and excavation work on the foundation contributed to the collapse.

For the next month, the intersection was closed while the city and the building's owner, Tony Shahrasebi, went back and forth on what could, or couldn't, be done to save the building.

On Nov. 23, the city's chief building inspector, Arlene Grégoire, issued an order for the building to be demolished and gave the owner four days to arrange it, based on engineering reports that the building was unsafe and the owner's failure to do remedial work to secure it.

Recently released city documents show that on Nov. 26, the city got an engineering report from heritage engineer John Cooke stating that the building was dangerous, "extremely unsafe to enter," and that at least a part of it needed to be demolished.

But in the same report, he set out a list of what could be done to save the building. He said if these things couldn't be accomplished in two weeks, the building should be demolished (perhaps saving the first floor), but if they could be done, the bulk of the building could be saved.

Despite this, on Nov. 27, still citing public safety and the precarious state of the building, Ms. Grégoire said the city would legally take over the demolition process and said it would be done within seven days. On Dec. 3, Mr. Shahrasebi got a court injunction halting the demolition plans until a full hearing on the issue could take place.

Mr. Shahrasebi's lawyer, Ken Radnoff, said after the injunction was granted, he and his client became aware of Mr. Cooke's report.

"They had a report from John Cooke saying the building could be saved, and they were still intent on demolishing it," Mr. Radnoff said. "It was only after we told them we knew of the report that they started dealing with us to save the building."

Mr. Radnoff said it is inexcusable that the city "withheld" an engineer's report for eight days while planning to knock down a heritage building that could be saved. "One expects more from your city," he said.

On Dec. 8, it became public knowledge that the owner and the city agreed to have Mr. Cooke supervise work to secure the building. Streets in the area were reopened about 10 days later, and the building remains standing, although it's still under construction.

Eventually, the city laid charges against Mr. Shahrasebi, including building without a permit and not complying with orders. As well, the city is pursuing him for incurred costs, including $250,000 in around-the-clock policing to keep people away from the building for two months.

No one from the city would comment on Mr. Cooke's report, how they handled it, or the situation in general because Mr. Shahrasebi is suing for damages he alleges he incurred due to the city's "excessive, unreasonable, and/or bad faith" actions, as his statement of claim says.

The city's statement of defence says it did everything to get the best information on the safety of the building, gave Mr, Shahrasebi enough time to secure the building, and acted in the interests of public safety at all times.

No trial date has been set.

© The Ottawa Citizen 2008

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/...3-8500812cd105

[waterloowarrior]

January 26, 2010
http://www.dailycommercialnews.com/article/id37246
Ottawa construction company T.K.S. Holdings pleads guilty in building collapse
OTTAWA

T.K.S. Holdings Inc., an Ottawa real estate and construction company, pleaded guilty and was fined $50,000 on Jan. 15 for a violation under the Occupational Health and Safety Act after a partial building collapse.

The owner of the building and the company, Tony Shahrasebi, pleaded guilty and was fined $5,000.

On Oct. 19, 2007, T.K.S. Holdings Inc. was renovating the historic Somerset House in Ottawa. Shahrasebi was supervising the project.

Workers were using motorized construction equipment to underpin walls in the building’s basement when a section of the basement wall rotated and collapsed, bringing part of the building down with it. No one was injured.

A Ministry of Labour investigation revealed the underpinning work was being done against the advice of a soils engineer.

The collapse was caused by the load and vibration of the equipment being used, combined with bad soil conditions due to recent rain.

T.K.S. Holdings Inc. pleaded guilty, as a constructor, to allowing use of the construction equipment when weather or other conditions were such that its use could endanger a worker.

Tony Shahrasebi pleaded guilty, as a supervisor, to failing to advise his workers of the dangerous conditions in the building.

DCN News Services