Quick thinking by the curator at the Prairie Art Gallery in northwestern Alberta may have averted disaster Monday when a historic building that houses the museum partially collapsed.

Normally, the gallery would be filled with visitors, staff and a pre-school class of 20 children. But early in the morning, curator Robert Steven noticed one of the central roof beams had cracked and water was trickling into the south end of the building.

A historic building that houses the Prairie Art Gallery in northwestern Alberta partially collapsed Monday.
(Courtesey City of Grande Prairie)

He immediately called off the pre-school class, evacuated the site, guarded the door to ensure no one entered and then called the city to investigate.

Moments after city workers left the building after checking out what was going on, a third of the roof sagged and crashed to the floor.

"They had left to take another look at it from a different point of view and, boom, it came down," said deputy fire Chief Harvey Pearson.

While no one was injured, there was substantial damage to the building.

Nearby buildings were evacuated, and gas and power was cut to the site as firefighters ensured no one was trapped inside.
(Courtesy City of Grande Prairie)

"It was structural damage," Pearson said. "We knew something severe was going to happen."

Nearby buildings were evacuated in the event of further collapse. Gas and power were cut to the site, while firefighters swarmed the scene to ensure no one had been trapped inside.

No warnings

Fire prevention officer Mark Whelpton said  there were no warnings before Monday of the impending collapse. City crews had cleared snow off the flat roof several times this winter.

"On Friday there was only about six inches of snow [15.24 cm] on the roof," he said. "If it was previous snow loads that weakened the structure or whether it was some other cause, we can't confirm that at this time."

Groundbreaking for a new multimillion-dollar library and expanded gallery was scheduled for this spring. Plans were in place to attach the expansion directly to the gallery, right where the collapse occurred. Those plans are now in doubt.

The gallery, home to more than 600 works of art, has not suffered any losses or damage to the collection in the last 10 years.

The building, which housed the first high school in Grande Prairie, was designated a historic site in 1984.