Sidewalks and some roads around Brookfield Place in the city’s downtown core remain closed due to concerns over the stability of the building’s glass exterior.

Broken glass rained down on to the street below on Sunday and police were forced to close roads along 6th Avenue and 1st Street S.W. to traffic and pedestrians.

The barricades were lifted on Monday afternoon but safety concerns prompted officials to reinstate the closures on Tuesday after engineers expressed concern about the integrity of the glass panes.

Brookfield released a statement on Monday saying that a single pane of glass on the 23rd floor broke and that officials conducted a visual inspection of all the glass panels and did not find any further issues.

Sidewalks and the left lane of 6th Avenue, between 1st and 2nd Street, are currently cordoned off and two right lanes on 1st Street have also been shut down.

City officials provided an update on the situation on Wednesday and said Brookfield has been directed to do further inspections on the northeast corner of the building.

“They’ve undertaken preliminary measures and inspected certain portions of the building that we asked them to do and they’ve come back and identified three, minor scratches on three different panels and so an abundance of caution,” said Marco Civitarese, Chief Building Official, The City of Calgary. “This is a precautionary measure on all fronts and it’s not because of any other implications of breaking glass.”

Civitarese says crews will make the repairs once the weather conditions improve and remediation could include applying a protective film or replacing the scratched panels completely.

“If those winds de-escalate to below 40 kilometres at height and the temperatures are ripe for the application of that treatment and or replacement, they will work on it at that time so we’re following weather patterns right now, could be within a day, could be within a week,” he said.

Brookfield Property Group released a statement on Wednesday afternoon saying…

‘On October 15, due to extremely high winds, a piece of window washing equipment impacted the northeast façade of Brookfield Place at 225-6th Avenue SW, causing a glass panel to break on the 51st floor. Subsequently, on Sunday, October 29, a glass panel broke on the 23rd floor of the same façade.  No injuries were reported in either instance.  We are currently undergoing an intensive, comprehensive investigation of every glass panel in the building. To date, we have observed damage to some additional glass panels along the northeast façade that are believed to have been a result of falling glass debris from the original incident on October 15.  We are taking immediate and appropriate steps to ensure these panels are not further compromised. Until such time as our investigation has been completed, and to facilitate any repair work, we have, in conjunction with The City of Calgary, effected temporary closures of the sidewalks and roadways immediately adjacent to the building.

“Ensuring the safety of pedestrians, vehicles, construction workers and the broader community is our top priority. Accordingly, we are working in coordination with The City of Calgary on the appropriate measures – including reduced pedestrian and traffic lane access – to ensure this safety until our investigation has concluded. We appreciate the patience and cooperation of the people of Calgary in this regard.’

Officials say crews are doing a full sweep of the building from the inside and that the matter is under investigation.