How bad the damage to the Vernon Law Courts is and how long two Vernon courtrooms will remain closed is anticipated to become clearer Wednesday, when a structural engineer is expected to finish their assessment of the building.
Two of Vernon’s five courtrooms were closed last Friday, after mould and crumbling concrete were found in the 105-year-old building.
The problems were discovered when officials were investigating after a malfunctioning A/C unit caused a flood in the building in early April.
While the province insists that court delays are not expected, local lawyers are concerned that cases will be pushed out of town.
“I anticipate when we go to file for a trial date, there is going to be more suggestions of, ‘do you want to go to Kelowna because you can get on there a little bit faster?'” lawyer Ed Woolley said.
If that happens, clients would have to pay their lawyers to drive to out-of-town court dates and find transportation to get to an alternate courthouse.
Some lawyers are already reporting that certain hearings and judicial case conferences have been moved to Kelowna, but the province said no other court functions have been moved out of town.
“It is already a bit of a problem in Vernon that there is not always a judge here to have hearings, so clients are regularly forced to spend extra on legal fees and travel expenses to go to other courts,” said lawyer Shane Dugas.
“Now there is the added burden on those clients that they’ve have to pay for this because there are no facilities in Vernon.”
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Woolley points out that this can become an access to justice issue, as “the more expensive you make it for people to get justice, the less likely they are to be able to pursue it.
As for the building’s future, opinion is divided. Some hope it can be repaired and retained as a working courthouse, while others suggest it should be replaced.
“It is one of the best court houses in the province if you ask me just based on the architectural and historical value of it,” Woolley said. “It would be a pity if it is not kept going…but we will see what the assessment says and there are real dollar considerations.”
Meanwhile, Dugas believes the courthouse is overdue for replacement.
“With any old buildings they reach the end of their legitimate life span and they need to be replaced,” Dugas said.
“This appears to have passed its lifespan some time ago and this is just further evidence that it’s due for replacement.”
The province said it doesn’t think the building will be beyond repair.
The building, which took three years to complete and incorporates a lot of local building material, including granite from the east side of Okanagan Lake, was finished in 1914 at a cost of roughly $200,000.
It was used not only as a courthouse but also housed the provincial government offices, the provincial police offices and, according to the local museum, the top floor was even used as a ballroom on occasion.
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