 A worker is seen in the rubble at the Algo Centre Mall in Elliot Lake, Ont., June 27, 2012. Rescue workers removed two bodies from a collapsed shopping mall in the northern Ontario town of Elliot Lake. (Reuters/Nathan Denette/Pool)
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ELLIOT LAKE, Ont. -- Staff from the Elliot Lake library testified Tuesday about "deplorable" conditions at the Algo Centre Mall, on the seventh day of a public inquiry into the mall's deadly collapse last year.
Former chief librarian Barbara Fazekas said the roof wouldn't leak as soon as it started raining, but water would gather and start coming into the library.
Fazekas said the library suffered from water damage and poor air quality from the time it moved into the mall in this northern Ontario town in 1989.
In 2002, the library board sent a letter to Richard Kennealy of Elliot Lake Retirement Living, which owned the mall through a subsidiary, complaining about the condition of roof above the library, including ceiling tiles falling to the floor as a result of water damage.
In 2005, staff member Suzanne Morin wanted to file a health and safety complaint because she was "always plagued with either headaches, respiratory problems, coughs, itchy eyes and throat etc.," a letter presented at the inquiry stated.
Fazekas said air tests showed an "abundant" amount of mould, mostly in the carpet, and the library wanted out of its location at the mall.
Staff developed a protocol to cover computers and shelving when leaks happened.
Later in the day, under questioning by Peter Doody, lead counsel for the commission, the former development supervisor for Algoma Central Properties said that leaks were an "ongoing" concern. Rodney Caughill testified that he had conducted inspections on the sealant in the parking lot and deemed it satifactory.
--with files from David Briggs
