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The city-owned heritage building in the heart of the ByWard Market requires more than $1 million in short-term fixes, but the chairman of Ottawa Markets is confident the money is available to make the necessary repairs on a key asset now under the organization’s oversight.

A consultant’s December 2016 audit obtained under access-to-information law reveals the maintenance requirements for 20 years, with the document recommending the critical work needed over the next three years at 55 ByWard Market Square.

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The audit by Morrison Hershfield happened just over one year before Ottawa Markets took over oversight of the ByWard Market and Parkdale Market as a municipal service corporation. The arm’s-length Ottawa Markets has been in operation since the beginning of 2018.

At the time of building audit, the elements in most dire need of fixing included the steel windows, the membrane and weather-proofing on the north and south sides of the roof, the skylights, the steel nosing on the stairs and some of the rooftop mechanical equipment.