A mural in Cobalt, depicting how the town looked in 1911, is about to become history itself as the building it's on will be demolished shortly.
Demolition is planned before winter for the east portion of the Cobalt building that had been housing the Cobalt, Coleman, Latchford and Area Food Bank.
The building at 22 Lang Street had also formerly housed the Cobalt Northern Ontario Firefighters Museum.
There is an adjoining, privately owned building to the west, and the engineer on the project believes the adjoining wall is strong enough, and that portion of the building can be saved, says town manager/clerk-treasurer Steven Dalley.
MaJIC (Materials Joining Innovation Centre) inspected the north wall of the building, which has been deteriorating for several years, and has advised the town that the wall is mainly rubble and is separating.
In an email, Dalley commented that the town made an attempt "to save the Firefighters Museum building, particularly the north wall with the mural, however, the inner rubble wall supporting the brick outer wall is quickly deteriorating."
He added that "the engineer did an assessment of the building and recommended that due to the state of the building and its hazard to public safety, the building be demolished before winter this year."
In a follow-up telephone interview, Dalley said the north wall of the building was constructed to last 50 years, but has lasted 100.
The deterioration of the wall has long been the subject of correspondence between the town and the board of the Cobalt Northern Ontario Firefighters Museum.
As far back as the council led by the late mayor Tina Sartoretto, council had taken the position that the repair of the wall was the responsibility of the board that operated the museum and used the building.
The museum is now permanently closed and most of the artifacts have been removed.
Under the council of past mayor George Othmer, the council pressed to get the wall repaired, but was unsuccessful even with the town directly involved.
At the October 17 meeting of Cobalt council, representatives of the food bank were present and inquired about the intentions of the town with regard to the building, and whether it could be made safe, or whether the food bank volunteers should prepare to leave.
Dalley simultaneously advised council that he had sent a query out to MaJIC asking for their finding from the inspection they had been conducting.
The following day the town advised the food bank that MaJIC has recommended that the east portion of the building should be demolished.
The food bank volunteers were given 30 days to vacate the building.
In the email, Dalley explained that the reason for the 30-days notice is that "there is a health and safety concern, and municipality liability with the building. As per the recommendation of the engineer, the Town must prepare for the demolition of the building, particularly before winter."
Dalley said not only is the building unsafe, but the sidewalk has been closed as well due to concerns that material from the crumbling wall could fall on pedestrians.
The engineer is coordinating the demolition, he said, and is currently seeking quotes from companies who can carry out the work, he stated in the telephone interview.
Dalley said the engineer intends to be on site to supervise when the demolition takes place.
Representatives of the food bank noted that the vast majority of its users are Cobalt representatives. They also noted that the number of people needing help from the food bank has been rising steadily from year to year.
Darlene Wroe, is a Local Journalism Initiative Reporter with the Temiskaming Speaker
