Butterfly construction paused for church chimney collapse investigation
Construction work on Vancouver’s third-tallest tower has paused after a church chimney collapsed during restoration work, injuring three workers who had to be rescued.
The collapse happened just before 11 am Wednesday, sending firefighters and paramedics rushing to the construction site at Burrard and Nelson Streets. Luckily, the three trapped workers were extricated and sent to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Now, Haebler Construction, the company that developer Westbank has contracted for the church renovation and seismic upgrade, says work at the side is suspended while an investigation takes place.
“We take the safety of our employees and the workers on site very seriously sincerely regret that this incident has occurred,” Haebler Construction said in a statement. “We wish the workers a speedy recovery and wish to express our gratitude to the first responders for their prompt and effective efforts in helping manage the situation.”
Construction progress on The Butterfly tower in downtown Vancouver as of July 3, 2023. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)
The project is by developer Westbank and involves building a 57-storey luxury condo tower dubbed The Butterfly, restoring neighbouring First Baptist Church, and constructing a social housing building to be operated by the church.
The project broke ground in 2018 and was originally slated to open in 2022. Pandemic delays pushed that timeline to early 2024, and it’s not yet known how the latest suspension of work will impact completion.