It’s only been open three months, but Kelowna’s new $4.1 million Parkinson Activity Centre, now home of the city’s seniors’ centre, is already in need of repair.
Cracks have started to appear in the wood floor of the large main activity room on the ground level, and the problem is so bad the subcontractor that installed the floor is being called back in fix it.
While the company is doing that work, it will also have to repair another section of the floor, a smaller area where boards that were taken up to repair a leak underneath were replaced too soon and have now buckled.
“(Both jobs) also considered a warranty item,” said Steve Walker, a building technician with the city’s design and construction department, who noted the subcontractor is responsible for the repairs. “But we are disappointed.”
He said because the work is covered by warranty, the repairs should not not cost the city any money.
The reason for the widespread cracking is believed to be shrinkage of the wood that was used for the flooring. The buckling problem occurred after a leak was detected under the floor near the entrance into the activity room, shortly after the building opened. Some floor boards were removed in order get underneath and fix the leak but they were reinstalled before the area under the floor had fully dried out. As a result, the replaced boards bucked.
The repairs to the floor—which would require shutting down the building—will be done during a scheduled closure this July so as not to interfere with scheduled events currently taking place at the centre.
The cracks in the sprung wood floor, which sits over the concrete foundation, are not considered hazardous. Walker said they are between 1/32 and 1/16 of an inch wide in places.
In a smaller room they would be much more noticeable than they are in such a large space, he said.
The Parkinson Activity Centre has proved to be a popular place, especially for seniors, since it opened in November.
Designed in consultation with local seniors groups, it provides space for a number of activities, is located beside one of the city’s main recreation centres and opens onto outdoor space along the banks of nearby Mill Creek.
The two-story building, located beside the Parkinson Recreation Centre was opened with much fanfare by Mayor Walter Gray Nov. 22. It replaced the Water Street Seniors’ Centre downtown, an aging building that was demolished this week to make way for a new Kelowna Yacht Club.
Meanwhile, the city is also looking at installing a “bumper bar” on the walls of the upstairs pool table room in the centre because chairs are being backed up against the walls and are damaging the drywall.
“That’s one of the things you don’t necessarily think about when you are planning a building like this,” Martin Johansen, manager of building services for the City of Kelowna.
