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Thursday, July 29, 2021

'Widespread leaks' found in new Lansdowne parking garage after five years - Ottawa Citizen

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A condition assessment of the parking garage at Lansdowne Park showed “widespread leaks” only five years after it was constructed, forcing the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group to spend money on stopping water infiltration during financially draining times for the company.

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The 2019 Morrison Hershfield report, obtained from the city through access to information, assessed the waterproofing condition as “fair.” The consultants found evidence of leaks in multiple locations of the parking garage and concluded that “significant targeted replacement repairs to the expansion joints and areas with widespread leakage will need to be performed” to make sure the waterproofing reaches its expected 30-year life.

Keeping as much water out of the garage as possible is critical for the city and OSEG since it contains infrastructure that supports the operation of the site, such as mechanical systems, piping, cables and electrical services.

Construction and operation of the mostly one-level parking garage dates back to 2014.

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The consultant estimated the cost of the targeted waterproofing replacement on the garage’s podium deck at $690,000. Other suggested short-term repairs included $130,000 to replace waterproofing where buildings tie into the deck and $125,000 to replace expansion joints.

To complete that work, it could also mean having to spend another $75,000 to remove surface pavement and landscaping to get at the underground parking structure, the report said. The surface was found to be in “excellent” condition by the consultant.

According to information provided to this newspaper by OSEG, leaking has been happening for three main reasons: electrical conduits, expansion joints and a floor epoxy coating that has failed in the area of the high-rise building above the garage.

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OSEG and the city brought in an engineer after the 2019 condition assessment to establish a “leak plan,” understand what elements should be repaired and recommend where the water should be diverted.

Since then, two out of three breached expansion joints have been repaired with another scheduled for repair this fall, OSEG said. The epoxy coatings were repaired in 2020 and the electrical conduits were caulked, though the caulking will be an ongoing maintenance requirement.

OSEG said it has spent $150,000 so far on repairs to stop the leaks. The company also noted that underground parking garages are always susceptible to leaking.

As part of the redevelopment, the city paid to build the urban park, south-side stadium stands and the parking garage.

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Responsibility for the garage is complicated since there are multiple stakeholders, OSEG said. The city has 1,000 spaces leased to TD Place and the retail section of Lansdowne, while three condo corporations together have 288 spaces and the office building has 90 spaces. OSEG is the manager of the shared facilities.

Matthew Knight, the city’s program manager for infrastructure renewal, said the city is currently repairing waterproofing in the parking garage adjacent to the Horticulture Building. The repairs aren’t covered under construction warranty.

Knight said the city is responsible for repair and maintenance of the portions of the parking garage it owns, as well as a portion of the cost for shared facilities.

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Under the agreement with the city, OSEG is required to conduct a third-party engineering report on all city-owned facilities every five years. The report helps decide how much money is required in lifecycle maintenance accounts.

In December 2020, council voted in favour of allowing OSEG to dip into asset maintenance funds to help the company pull through financial challenges caused by COVID-19. Two OSEG-fed reserves — one for the parking garage and another for the stadium and arena — had a combined $4.7 million at the time of the council approval.

OSEG said most of the money in the maintenance reserves was earmarked for lifecycle work at the stadium. The company hadn’t used any lifecycle reserves on the parking garage; it’s paying for any work as required.

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(This newspaper first requested the Morrison Hershfield condition report from the city in November 2020 but was directed to the access-to-information process, which produced the document this month.)

Lansdowne could see a second wave of redevelopment in the coming years.

Last week, council signed off on a plan to further improve Lansdowne and make the long-term agreement between the city and OSEG more financially sustainable. The city and OSEG are investigating if the north-side stands and arena should be replaced and if more residential units should be built on the site.

The north-side stands and arena, which are one structure, have been deemed wildly out of date compared to modern entertainment facilities.

Morrison Hershfield also examined the state of TD Place as part of the 2019 condition assessment of city assets. The consultant eyeballed about $6.7-million worth of maintenance required over five years at the entertainment facility, with the 1967 Civic Centre arena requiring most of the work.

jwilling@postmedia.com

twitter.com/JonathanWilling

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    'Widespread leaks' found in new Lansdowne parking garage after five years - Ottawa Citizen
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