As reconstruction ramps up on Bay Street from Brock to Pim, administrators at the James L. McIntyre Centennial Library are crossing their fingers the work doesn't aggravate their building's longstanding susceptibility to flooding.
They're talking to the city's engineering staff in hopes water flowing off Bay Street can be kept to a minimum, preventing a repeat of problems caused by heavy rains last October.
"Do we have any surface water issues coming down from Bay Street?" Ward 2 Coun. Luke Dufour asked at a recent library board meeting. "Or is everything coming up from the water table?"
"We do have some issues coming down from Bay," responded Matthew MacDonald, the library's chief executive officer.
"They said that the driveway needs to be redone in a way that encourages it to go toward a landscaped area in front of the library that absorbs the water," MacDonald said.
On Oct. 1, 2019, water poured into two of the main library's conservation rooms, a program room, cataloguing department and the lower-level lobby, through a staff entrance in the lower parking lot.
Del and Sons Janitorial and Nu-Life Property Management worked all night to mitigate damage.
Library staff scrambled to save irreplaceable historical documents that have since been moved to the new North Branch Library at the former Alexander Henry High School site.
Water-damage specialists from Winmar oversaw restoration efforts and a claim was made through the city's insurance coverage.
The same rainstorm caused flooding at the nearby Art Gallery of Algoma.
Bay Street was closed in the then-under-construction stretch from Gore Street to East Street, and significant road damage was reported as far away as the Pine Street hill area.
"We need to have the parking lot lifted up a little bit so that it drains toward that instead of it pushing it down the hill where it can overwhelm our storm drain," MacDonald said.
The library CEO said he's talked to the city's engineering staff and been assured the new construction won't make things worse at the library, and may well make things better.
Further investigations are being made to see if other tweaks can be made.
Meanwhile, Bay Street isn't the only issue affecting flooding at the waterfront library.
There's also the high water table in the Clergue Park area.
Last year, a gravity drain in one of the library's mechanical rooms was jackhammered to improve the situation.
This year, the library's elevator shaft is the focus.
"There was a drain in there that was clogged underneath the elevator," MacDonald says.
"It was cleaned out and the water's drained from there now."
With all local libraries closed because of the COVID-19 emergency, this is an excellent opportunity to do additional work.
"We've been told that the pumps are reaching their end and now's a good time to do it. If we can do it when staff aren't in the building, it's better. If we can't be in the building, it doesn't hurt to get some of the construction done, as long as the construction people can come in and do it safely."
"Hopefully, after this, the library will be a fairly dry place," MacDonald told his board.