Pipe blockage caused road closure
Fourth Street downtown had been closed to traffic this week while storm sewer pipes were replaced following a complaint.
The complaint came from the registered owner of the building in which the old Towne Theatre is located, said city project engineer Chris Coslovich.
“Their drain wasn’t draining,” said Coslovich. “We investigated and determined that there was a blockage in the line.”
A robotic camera was sent into the line and revealed “the pipe was under water” and wasn’t draining fully, he explained.
“There was just kind of a buildup of sediment in the pipe. We tried to flush it out but couldn’t.”
When dug up it was found to be hard and compacted, explaining why the flushing had not worked, he said. Just clearing the blockage would not have been enough to address the problem.
“We put a new section of pipe in,” said Coslovich.
The work commenced on Monday and Coslovich was confident it would be completed by the end of the day on Wednesday.
The News was not able to reach Towne Theatre building owner, B.C. resident Laurence Gerritsen, for comment.
On Dec. 19, 2016 the vacant Towne Theatre building and the businesses below were flooded after a roof-top unit for the theatre failed causing a sprinkler to burst. The ceilings of two small theatres on the top floor collapsed causing water under high pressure to flow down affecting business premises at street level as well.
The Towne Theatre has been vacant since 2007. In 2012 the building was redeveloped to include street-level offices with the theatre mostly left in tact.
In 2014 there was a proposal by Three Cool Guys Properties president Mike Waskalik to turn the former Towne Theatre into a nightclub. The Municipal Planning Commission approved the proposal saying it would help to rejuvenate the city centre. By February 2015, the planned nightclub was put on hold as the developer and property owner stepped back from the sale of Towne Theatre.
Renovations after the December 2016 water damage took longer than expected because of asbestos in the drywall of the main theatre. The building was for sale at the time. In previous conversations with the News, Gerritsen has said he still wants to sell the building.