When Low Petergate closed suddenly, we were warned it might be shut for months.
And that prediction proved to be very accurate. Nine months after the York city centre street shut in October last year, it has finally reopened.
It was closed to traffic when structural problems were uncovered in one of the street’s buildings, 71 Low Petergate – rendering it at risk of collapse.
A large piece of masonry was patched up and the building was soon covered in scaffolding.
The urgency of the closure followed the “discovery of significant structural defects to the building’s timber frame”.
Leaks “allowed water to seep into the timber elements between the render and the timber frame, causing timber decay”, planning documents revealed.
They went on: “The damage caused to the original timber frame has resulted in building loads being transmitted through the non-load bearing elements of the front elevation of 73 Low Petergate, instead of the frame.
“Mason Clark Associates (structural engineers) have assessed the structure and deemed this to be unsafe and at risk of collapse.”
Work to fix the building, which dates back to the early 1600s and is Grade II listed, has now been completed, and it is safe again.
The scaffolding was removed and the street reopened to traffic yesterday (Wednesday).
Number 71 Low Petergate is owned by Cable Properties And Investments Limited, a Middlesbrough based property company.
It bought the building in a deal along with other properties for more than £43 million in November 2005.
The last occupier of the ground floor shop was Crew Clothing, but that had closed before the structural problems were discovered
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