Concern that a portion of the fire-ravaged former St. Catharines Standard building may collapse is keeping surrounding sections of Queen and William streets blocked off for the time being.

Fire Chief Dave Upper said the streets will be closed for a couple of days while the city engages a structural engineer to assess the risk.

The 4,100-square-metre building that fronts onto Queen Street and backs onto William Street was gutted by flames over the weekend.

“The concern is that front facade wall is going to come down. If the engineer tells us otherwise, we’ll be able to pull the (safety) fencing back,” Upper told city council Monday night.

“If they have concerns about it coming down, we’ll have Queen Street fully closed and we’ll have to get some more heavy equipment in to bring the wall

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