Reporter Kent Molgat with Mayor Ron Hovanes today at Town Hall.
All residents of Park Place requested to leave their homes to find other accommodation in the summer of 2013.
Molgat was following up a lead about a lawsuit and how the Mayor felt about that many people being displaced.
Mayor Hovanes expressed compassion for the resident-owners saying that some had moved to a higher level of care and others found alternatives housing.
Both men seemed to be aware of a law suit by the owners against a number of parties involved in the construction of the building nearly 30 years ago. Public records show a writ filed in Vancouver Supreme Court.
Date File Opened: 11Sep2014
Style of Cause: THE OWNERS, STRATA PLAN KAS669
Location: Vancouver Law Courts
Class of Court: Supreme Civil (General)
Initiating Document(s): Notice of Civil Claim
32 parties (corporations and individuals named in the writ)
Owners met with the CTV reporter today at the building. A 60 page document from the Insurance Company is doing the rounds with geo-technical information on the last soil samples taken last year.
So far the Insurance company has not accepted any responsibility for the damage to the structure or the repairs.
Report from June 10 – 2013 (less than three years ago)
Owners of Park Place became aware of some wall (dry wall) and floor cracking in 2012 and they launched an envelope inspection of the building to look into issues connected to surface water and decks. The initial study involved three things – a. how is surface water dealt with on the property b. gathering of information on the building itself and c. looking at the main floor (concrete) as part of the building envelope. Engineers were hired.
The experts hired recommended a forensic structure study based on the amount of floor space affected by cracking and the nature and movements vertical and horizontal on the concrete. Much of the floor cracking is evident in the entrance and dining room area at the western side of the building.
The studies have been quite expensive with no final determination yet to the cause. One thought was that a seismic event in 2011 may have caused the cracking. The building has been trouble free for over 25 years but maintenance costs began to spike in the last two years.
A problem with domestic water lines has been ruled out. Drilling west of the building (shown above) found no unusual moisture content and the soil mix under the building is dry and completed as recommended by engineers at the time of construction in 1987. Water flow off the building/rainfall is controlled well.
Owners are committed to finding the cause. All expenses to date in the investigation will be covered by the 43 unit owners. Remediation cannot take place until the cause is determined.
Park Place was built by June and Ernest Phillips and a company owned by the Carpenters Union which financed the project. The complex is valued at about 6 million dollars.
Stuart Syme says 51 percent of people in BC live within a strata and this is a bit of wake up call for all those in joint ownership. Many of the buildings in this area are built near the river and on old oxbows or marshy lands.