Asbestos clean up to delay Saskatoon children's museum

Asbestos found in the former Mendel Art Gallery building will increase costs and slow construction as the Children's Discovery Museum waits to move in.

It's ubiquitous throughout the building.- Brenda Wallace 

"It's not a surprise," said Dave Hunchak, president of the children's museum board of governors.

"We've known for years there is some asbestos in the building. Then in December, the city's audit was released and so we've known the extent for six months or so."

The initial hope was that asbestos would be found only in insulation around pipes, etc. But the audit found much more,

"It's ubiquitous throughout the building," said Brenda Wallace, the city's director of environment and corporate initiatives.

"It's in the flooring, the wall boards, and ceiling tiles."

A report released this week suggests that "remediation efforts are high-risk in nature." It goes on to suggest "removing all materials when the building is unoccupied." Doing so will create a five-month period when only remediation experts are allowed inside, impacting both the budget and the schedule.

Museum still set to open in 2018

Hunchak isn't worried. He said the goal remains to open the Children's Discovery Museum in the former art gallery building by 2018. The hope was that it would open its doors in the spring, but this delay will push that back to late summer or the fall.

 "It's not a game changer," said Hunchak.

Cleaning up all the asbestos could cost as much as $700,000. Some of the cost could be covered by a federal grant.