The City of Estevan has removed the brick from the exterior south-facing wall of the Estevan Public Library and the Nicholson Centre.
Rod March, the manager of parks and facilities for the city, said the brick needed to be taken down because the incorrect type of brick was used during construction years ago. He has been told that it was an interior brick rather than an exterior brick for the building. The brick was already starting to crumble, and eventually it would have started to fall off.
“We’re just getting ahead of it, doing some cosmetic work, tearing it all down, and we’ll be stuccoing that side of the wall … just to clean up the entire frontage of the building,” said March.
The city had not received any complaints of the brick falling from the building, but it was showing signs of corroding because it likely was a brick designed for interiors.
“Everything was weathered apart, and after 25 or 30 years, how long can you expect it to last?” asked March.
If something did happen in which the brick were to fall off of the building and land on somebody, then it would be a terrible situation, March said.
The brick on the library and the Nicholson Centre was removed on Tuesday. There is some structural work that still needs to be done, since the wall is SM insulated.
“We’re going to have to protect that SM, probably put some pressure-treated plywood over it, that sort of thing, put a face on it and then stucco that portion,” said Mack.
The Estevan Lions Club, which meets in the Nicholson Centre, has considered adding a door to the south-facing wall, March said. If the door is added, then the stucco won’t be completed until later.
A similar type of interior brick had been applied to the wave wall in front of the Estevan Leisure Centre during construction in the 1990s, but that brick has been removed.
“The brick (from the wave wall) was falling off and becoming a hazard to the public,” said March.
Stucco was applied to the side of the wave wall last year, and March said it turned out pretty well.
The removal of the brick wall on the library and the Nicholson Centre is part of the city’s goal to continue to take care of its buildings and other assets. It’s no different than the paint job that the Power Dodge Curling Club received earlier this year, and March said that building now looks much better.
March believes the library and the Nicholson Centre will look better once the stucco is complete.
