Staff, private event guests to be allowed back at Edmonton City Hall after shooting closure

The next step in the process of reopening Edmonton City Hall to the public following a shooting in January begins next week.

Starting Monday, March 11, the facility will reopen to City of Edmonton staff and private event guests.

City staff can access the building with their identification cards, attend in-person council meetings and use the Heritage Room for internal meetings, a news release on Friday said.

Some private events will also resume.

Under new security guidelines, the city said external guests for private events must enter through a dedicated access point and undergo security screening.

“City hall is the people’s building and moving to the next phase of re-opening is a welcome step,” City manager Andre Corbould said in a statement Friday. “It is our priority that city hall be open and accessible to Edmontonians while balancing a safe, secure and welcoming environment.”

The Hallway Cafe and the Edmonton Arts Council space are operating separately, the city said.

Public skating in Churchill Square in front of city hall has resumed and there are dedicated change rooms and bathrooms available.

Access to the building already includes city councillors and their staff, some other city hall employees, the office of the city auditor and accredited journalists. The city hall parkade is restricted to authorized users only, the city said.

2:04 Tour of Edmonton City Hall after damage from shooting

The first private event to take place at city hall since the Jan. 23 shooting was the Edmonton Police Service graduation ceremony on Friday.

While City Hall remains closed to the public, the city said the next phases will include security protocols to welcome external meeting guests and support public access and public participation in council chambers.

Terrorism charges were laid this week in the shooting a month and a half ago inside the building.

The RCMP said a heavily armed man entered city hall through an underground parkade, fired a gun and lit several small incendiary devices, which caused a small fire outside an elevator.

Several city councillors, staff, members of the media and elementary students were inside city hall when shots rang out.

No one was hurt, but the bullets shattered glass and punctured ceilings and walls.

2:01 Alberta RCMP release details on Edmonton City Hall shooting gun and ammunition

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Bezhani Sarvar, 28, is charged with counselling commission of a terrorism offence and possession of property for terrorist purposes.

The RCMP Integrated National Security Enforcement Team said those charges are in conjunction with nine others that constitute terrorism offences, including intentionally possessing incendiary material while committing an indictable offence.

Sarvar is also charged with two counts of possessing a prohibited device, mischief, carrying a concealed weapon and possessing a weapon for the purpose of committing an offence.

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