Residents of a downtown Calgary apartment building face another Christmas with internal flooding and damages.
A heat pipe burst in an unoccupied unit on the 14th floor at Westview Heights apartments Friday.
Last year, the building experienced a similar disaster – flooding and power outages drove residents of Westview Heights to evacuate their homes only a few days before Christmas.
Ajay Nehru, the building’s property manager, said that two-thirds of the building — floors 14 to 18 — are unoccupied as they are still being repaired from the flooding that happened last year.
This year, one of the three elevators was already under maintenance before the two other lifts were manually stopped by staff after parts got wet Friday.
Nehru said building management and staff are doing everything they can to accommodate the residents.
“As you can imagine given the time of year, getting the necessary parts and manpower is somewhat challenging… We have hired additional security to help carry deliveries etc. up to tenants. A few mobility-challenged residents have been offered alternate temporary accommodation,” he said.
One resident said his apartment is currently sitting at 15 degrees and he hasn’t had hot water or proper heat in his unit for two weeks.
“I would’ve thought they would’ve been better prepared for something like this. With having pipes break constantly, it’s something that could’ve maybe been foreseen,” said Steve Kean, who’s lived in the building for nearly eight years.
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Kean spent 20 days in a hotel last year following the flooding – a cost that came out of his own pocket except for the first two nights, which were covered by the building’s management. This year, his elderly mother is staying with him, and without any functioning elevators, they are having to take the stairs.
As for what the building is doing about it: “They did send out an email today saying that inspectors were on site, but that’s the last communication I’ve heard,” said Kean.
In an email to Global News on Saturday, a spokesperson from the building management Amble Ventures said the building did not lose power or heat.
A heating pipe burst in unit 1401 at Westview Height on Friday at around 2 p.m., it reads, adding that the unit was unoccupied, as is approximately two-thirds of the building.
“The leak was identified quickly and water to the heating riser shut off,” it reads.
— With files from Carolyn Kury de Castillo, Global News
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