An area around the CN Tower remains closed to pedestrians as concerns about falling ice stretch into a third straight day.
Large chunks of ice started falling from the Toronto landmark on Monday morning after icy temperatures brought in by a weekend storm started to rise.
Toronto police closed an area directly near the CN Tower and the Rogers Centre out of concerns for safety.
Monday’s closures carried into Tuesday and forced baseball fans heading to the Rogers Centre for the Toronto Blue Jays and Kansas City Royals doubleheader to use alternate routes.
The area remained blocked off today as more ice has rained down from the tower to the sidewalks and roadways below.
Part of the closure includes multiple entrances to the Rogers Centre where the Jays are set to play the Royals at 4:07 p.m.
Gates one through six are closed due to the falling ice concerns and fans have been asked to enter the stadium through alternate gates.
But, about 45 minutes before the game, a large crowd of fans gathered outside Gates 11 and 10, waiting to be admitted.
“Usually when there’s a giveaway there’s a long lineup, so if you know about it you come early but today I had to walk all the way around to get to here,” one fan told CP24 outside the Rogers Centre. “That’s kind of hard for people with walkers.”
Other fans said the chaos outside the packed gates has made it difficult for people with mobility issues.
“It’s been really sad to watch... Folks are struggling to wait in line and get in,” the fan said. “They didn’t open the gates earlier for them, they didn’t do anything to accommodate them, there’s snow (on the ground) and they’re struggling to get in.”
Bremner Boulevard is closed between Lower Simcoe and Reese streets. The John Street extension over the nearby trail tracks is also closed and police say additional closures may be possible if the wind direction changes.
This is the first time in the CN Tower’s history that the year-round attraction has been closed to the public for multiple consecutive days. The landmark closed for one day in August 2003 due to a power outage.
“This is very rare for us, to have the ice on the building for this long of a period of time,” Tom Mellon, the director of operations at the CN Tower, told CP24 on Wednesday.
“We’re working on this, we’ve been diligent about this, we’ve been working on it around the clock. We’re really at the mercy of Mother Nature at the moment.”
Mellon said a “vast majority” of the ice, which accumulated on the upper pod and antenna mast, has already fallen.
While crews have identified some damage to the structure, Mellon said they won’t have a clear idea of the severity until all the ice has melted off. Only the “horizontal surfaces” of the tower are equipped with deicing systems, he says, so areas without will have to rely on warmer temperatures and sunshine.
“There is some degrading damage we do have on the lower levels (and) we have some windows that were smashed… It’s going to be ongoing until this all comes down,” he said. “As long as everyone is safe, we can deal with the property damage later.”
As of 1:30 p.m., a spokesperson for CN Tower says favourable weather conditions had "improved considerably" the situation, but that the attraction would remain closed to the public until further notice.
Earlier, police were concerned about the size of the ice chunks on the tower. They were keeping an eye on one particular piece that was believed to weigh as much as 100 pounds.
Both the CN Tower and nearby Ripley’s Aquarium remain closed to the public as officials monitor the situation.
Ripley’s Aquarium general manager Peter Doyle says he hopes the downtown attraction will reopen “at some point” today.
“We are closed – that’s what’s really difficult, just letting people know,” Doyle told CTV News Toronto. “We had school groups planned today, we had a special event last night that we had to cancel, so it’s disappointing. But safety is paramount, so we are closed and for a good reason.”
Nearby attractions Steam Whistle Brewing and The Rec Room are also closed.
The falling ice is also to blame for the cancellation of Monday night’s Blue Jays and Royals game. A large chunk of ice fell from the tower and onto the Rogers Centre, tearing a car-sized hole in the roof and causing water to leak onto the field.
