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Victoria City Hall reopens days after downtown fire

The building was closed due to poor air quality
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Victoria City Hall is opening Thursday morning after a three-day closure (Nicole Crescenzi/ News Staff)

Public services are once again available at Victoria’s City Hall.

The building had been closed for three days following the nearby fire at 603 Pandora Ave. due to poor air quality.

” The City Hall is an old building with an antiquated HVAC system being scheduled for various updates,” said director of engineering, Fraser Work on Wednesday. “The air that’s been entrained in the building over Monday and Tuesday is actually very poor and is still in the building.”

ALSO READ: Walls come down at site of downtown Victoria fire

City staff were waiting for the air quality of the surrounding area to clear up before purging the air from inside.

In the meantime, some staff have been directed to outstations including the Capital Regional District (CRD) office, the Victoria Fire Hall and Public Works.

By Wednesday evening staff were alerted that the air quality was in acceptable limits.

ALSO READ: Former coworker finds it strange that caretaker is missing after fire

The public service counter, development services and permits and inspections will be open beginning Thursday morning at 8 a.m., with more services planned to open Friday and next week.

The committee of the whole and council meeting, usually running at City Hall on Thursdays, had already been scheduled to take place at the next door CRD office at 625 Fisgard St.. The meetings will be held on the sixth floor, and return to their usual location again next week.

nicole.crescenzi@vicnews.com


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