Residents worry as city orders repairs to Proudfoot Lane parking garage

The owner of a large apartment complex in west London has installed temporary shoring in its parking garage in response to a city order citing safety concerns.

On May 6, the city posted an "order to make safe" notice in the lobbies of each of the four 14-storey apartment buildings at 575-605 Proudfoot Ln. The city's notice said the two-storey parking garage at the centre of the buildings "contains conditions that could be hazardous to the health and safety of persons in the normal use of the building."

The notice points to "deteriorated concrete and exposed rebar," which city inspectors considered to be in an unsafe condition.

The notice says under the Ontario Building Code, owner Old Oak Properties is required to spell out their plans to make the parking garage safe enough for continued use in an engineer's report submitted to the city by May 7.

The city confirmed that Old Oak has now submitted that report and has installed temporary shoring to make the garage safe enough for use while more extensive repairs are carried out.

"The unsafe order was to get immediate action from the building owner," said a statement from Alan Shaw, the city's chief building official. "In this case, the owner has been responsive, and we received the engineering report on Thursday stating the structure remains safe to use at this time. Hence, the removal of the unsafe order today."

In a statement to CBC News, Old Oak Properties said the parking garage is safe for use and that they proactively began to repair it last year.

"Old Oak takes the safety of our residents and guests as our top priority," the company said.

CBC News went to the parking garage on Friday. Some sections of the lower level have vertical metal supports placed under the concrete beams. In a few places, the garage's metal support structure is visible where the concrete has fallen away.

Meanwhile, residents say they're frustrated that they were not given any information by the owner, and were instead left to interpret the city's posted statement with its headline "Unsafe Building - Order to Make Safe."

"It's really nerve-wracking," said Anastacia Dyck, who's lived at the building since 2019. "I would like some report saying the building is structurally sound, that the building is not going to collapse."

Margaret Schwartz has lived at 575 Proudfood Ln. for 10 years.

"They haven't communicated anything to the tenants," she said. "A lot of tenants are worried about the safety of people using the garage."

Jen Watson pays $100 a month on top of her rent to park in the garage.

"It doesn't feel safe," she said. "The beams have been crumbling for quite some time."

On top of the parking garage is a grassy courtyard with a swimming pool. Old Oak Properties said they will inform residents about future repairs.

"We will continue to update residents and the City of London on any next steps as the rehabilitation plan is finalized, maintaining safety for our residents as our highest priority," their statement said.

In addition to installing the temporary shoring, Old Oak is required to provide monthly engineering monitoring reports. Shaw said the city will continue to oversee how the repairs are carried out.

"We will continue to work with the owner's engineer to identify the repairs needed and provide a timeline for the repair to be completed," said Shaw. "This will likely result in additional orders in the coming days to ensure the repairs commence in a timely fashion."