Stadium construction may have caused Parkview ceiling collapse: HWDSB

The public school board believes the construction of the new Pan Am stadium site caused around 30 tiles to cascade from the ceiling ofa classroom at Parkview Secondary School.

The incident happened sometime overnight on Thursday, according to Jackie Penman, a spokeswoman for the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board.

Approximately 30 ceiling tiles fell in a second-floor classroom, she said. The school sealed the room and repairs are underway.

No one was injured in the collapse.

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She said the board believes that the tiles may have been disturbed because of the construction across the street.

The 50-year-old vocational school, which specializes in educating students with special needs, is slated to close in June.

Located at Balsam Street North in between Barton and Cannon streets, Parkview is directly across the street from the construction site for the new Pan Am stadium, which will also serve as the new home for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

Calls to Samuel Gandossi, the sites project manager, were not immediately returned on Friday afternoon.

The construction of the stadium has been fraught with delays. In December, the Kitchener-Waterloo masonry company hired to do the brickwork went into receivership.And the Dec. 22 ice stormas well as the extreme cold this winter has caused problems for the contractors.

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The provincial government has given Ontario Sports Solutions, the construction consortium thats building the facility, until June 30 to finish the job.

The Ticats are scheduled to play their first home game at the stadium on July 26. If Ontario Sports Solutions doesnt finish the stadium in time, theyll have to pay the Ticats $1 million for each home game affected.