After extensive cleaning and air-testing, we are pleased to announce that the South Block of the Stewart Biology Building is safe for use and is open effective immediately. This follows the re-opening of the North Block last week.
All in-person teaching, research, administrative work and other activities in the South Block may resume as of tomorrow.
On Friday, a fresh round of cleaning took place in the South Block of the Stewart Biology Building. New air samples were taken over the weekend and sent to a lab for analysis, and as was the case for previous tests, we are happy to share that these results are in full compliance with Quebec regulatory standards.
听Q&A series is part of Black History Month and Beyond, an initiative of the BHM Organizing Committee co-led by Black students and faculty鈥�from the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences with the Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Anti-Racism Committee (EDI-AR) of the School of Population and Global Health.
Following yesterday鈥檚 reopening of the Stewart Biology Building鈥檚 North Block, we had hoped to complete cleaning and testing in the South Block today, and reopen it this evening once it was confirmed that the test results met Quebec government safety standards.
Unfortunately, the cleaning in the South Block is not yet complete. This in turn has delayed the air testing in the South Block. The result is that we will not receive air test results until the evening of Monday, February 27.
Message from Josephine Nalbantoglu, Associate Provost (Graduate Education) & Dean of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies and Jean-Benoit Charron, Associate Dean (Graduate Education) FAES
Dear Graduate Students,
We understand that the recent closures of the Macdonald-Stewart, Barton and Raymond buildings have had a major effect on your life and progress as graduate students. It鈥檚 particularly tough, coming after all the disruptions and unexpected closures in the first few years of COVID.
After extensive cleaning and air-testing, we are glad to announce that the North Block of the Stewart Biology Building is safe for use, and is open effective immediately.
Message from Fabrice Labeau, Co-Acting Provost and Vice-Principal (Academic), Deputy Provost (Student Life and Learning) and planning chief for the Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) on behalf of the EOC
Dear members of the Macdonald Campus community,
Last Thursday, we noted that some areas of the Stewart Biology Building would be re-cleaned, and that a fresh round of air tests would determine whether the building could re-open sometime this week. The re-cleaning was completed over the weekend, and new air samples will soon be taken from the North and South Blocks for testing.
Dear members of the Macdonald campus community,
Late yesterday afternoon, we received the final results of the microvac testing in the Macdonald-Stewart Building, which has been underway since February 3, 2023. These tests provide reasonably complete information about this building, though we are still gathering information about Barton and Raymond.
Below in this email, you will find:
Since our previous update, extensive testing has taken place in the North Block of the building, and the affected areas have undergone comprehensive cleaning under asbestos safety protocols. Results so far are encouraging. Wipe tests have helped to guide and target our air-testing and cleaning efforts, and following our cleaning operation, all air tests have indicated that this area is now safe for use.
Dear members of the Macdonald Campus community,
You are invited to register for a presentation by Fabrice Labeau, Co-Acting Provost and Vice-Principal (Academic), Deputy Provost (Student Life and Learning) and planning chief for the Emergency Operations Centre.
Professor Labeau will give an interim update about the status of the building closures at Macdonald Campus: where we are and what we know to date. He will provide answers, where information is available, to some of the common questions we are hearing from the Macdonald community.
We are writing to provide users of the Stewart Biology Building with an update as to timelines for a safe re-opening. While damage occurred in both the North and South blocks, the North will be able to open sooner than the South.
Dear members of the Macdonald Campus community
As you learned from the latest message by Director (Campus Public Safety) Pierre Barbarie (sent on February 7, 5:06 pm), the Barton-Macdonald-Stewart-Raymond building complex will need to stay closed for at least another week while additional tests for asbestos are being conducted. The purpose of these tests is to ensure that all spaces in the vast expanse of these buildings are covered.
As mentioned in the message sent to the Stewart Biology listservs and posted on the web this morning, tests revealed the presence of asbestos in some building materials damaged by flooding. To be cautious, testing has been extended to other areas of the building not covered in the initial round of tests.
