A close call in front of a restaurant and store, after bricks fell off the side of a building in Kitchener Sunday afternoon.
Kitchener Fire responded to the incident on King Street West, after more than one brick fell from the building onto the sidewalk below.
A section of the sidewalk in front of Rhapsody and Gyselee has been fenced off and secured.
“Definitely could have been a close call,” said Mike Finnerty, who was jogging by the scene.
“You wouldn’t want to see something like that around somebody walking around, you know? It’s certainly a busy area with children and families and what not,” he said.
The bricks came tumbling down just before the restaurant and store opened its doors to host an Easter brunch.
Tammy Lawrence owns both the businesses and says they just opened up two weeks ago.
Lawrence thinks the freezing rain and ice over the last few days may have cause the bricks to come loose.
“Unfortunately they fell down, went through the sign. But luckily no one was hurt when they did come down,” said Lawrence.
“They have arranged for a general contractor to come on site to figure out options of how to secure the remaining brick,” said Robert Schipper, manager of the building division for the city of Kitchener.
Lawrence says she stayed open for a few hours, but the city of Kitchener and a private contractor asked her to close up late this afternoon.
Due to the holiday weekend, contractors won’t be able to complete the repairs tonight.
Lawrence says the store portion of her business will be closed all day Monday, but she plans on opening the restaurant around 5 p.m. for dinner if the work is completed as planned.
