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Three-story icicle comes down after complaint

Mar 6, 2013 | 4:45 PM

A giant icicle in Saskatoon that met its demise now has a cousin in Prince Albert.

The three-story icicle attached to a Prince Albert apartment building on 27th Street East stirred up controversy this week when an area resident complained to the city’s bylaw department.

“We’ve received our first call ever in Prince Albert history,” said bylaw manager Suzanne Stubbs.

Despite never having to deal with a large icicle before, Stubbs said there is protocol in place to deal with them. It falls under the Property Amenities Bylaw which makes the owner of the building responsible for the upkeep of their building to avoid injury from negligence.

Stubbs said there was concern about children playing near the icicle, and the potential for the ice to fall and injure someone standing below.

The owner quickly responded to the complaint made on Tuesday.

Tom Harwood, who is charge of building maintenance for the apartment building, was working Wednesday to cut away the icicle, which was firmly attached to the side of the building.

Harwood said that unlike the giant icicle in Saskatoon which required a crane to help remove it, he was able to use the balconies to break it down.

“Here, I’m lucky with the balconies, I can work off the balconies safely,” said Harwood. “They did it with a chainsaw, I have a chainsaw here. So far I’m just doing it with an air chisel though.”

Harwood said that it was a slow and tedious job, taking nearly two hours to get at least 1/3 of the icicle chiseled away.

He said the icicle was created when melting snow flowed over the frozen eavestroughs and down the side of the building then slowly freezing.

jbowler@panow.com

On Twitter: @journalistjim

Below is video of the icicle being removed