Front Street fully reopens, shoring structure at Red Apple store to remain in place ‘for some time to come’

Tim Brody - Editor

After being partially closed since the evening of March 3, Front Street fully reopened to vehicular and pedestrian traffic on April 22.
Front Street had been closed between Sixth Avenue and the Municipal Parking Lot next to the Red Apple store since March 3, when a portion of the ceiling of the Red Apple store collapsed.
Work to shore up the building was carried out last week by Service Master with assistance from Perron Contracting.
Municipal Public Works & Infrastructure Manager Jeff Hawley shared, “The shoring structure you are seeing at the front of the building has been designed to stabilize the building and make it safe for the Municipality to open the street as much as possible.  This will also allow for further evaluation of the building by those involved.  As such, it is expected the shoring will be in place until those evaluations and decisions on the future of the building, are made.  In short, the shoring will be in place for some time to come.”
Red Apple Stores ULC shared in a March 31 media release that the company is, “actively seeking a new or temporary location in the event the current building cannot be repaired.”
The company further shared, “At present, the re-opening date is unknown, but will be announced once further information becomes available.”
Asked about the shoring structure in place, Sioux Lookout Mayor Doug Lawrance shared, “My understanding would be that the owner, insurance company, whoever, would have to decide whether the building is salvageable, whether they can reconstruct and make it safe, or whether they’re going to demolish it. Those decisions I would hope would be made as expediently as possible.”
Lawrance said he’s glad to see Front Street fully reopened. He said of Red Apple’s plans to remain in Sioux Lookout, “That is good news as it was a well used retail option for many people here.”
“I should also add that it is very fortunate that no one was hurt as a result of the roof failure,” he said, adding, “It is unfortunate that some people will have lost employment and hopefully that will be temporary.”