Faulty drain causes water damage at police headquarters

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This article was published 03/05/2019 (2319 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

THE problem-plagued downtown Winnipeg Police Service headquarters has a new one: an improperly installed drain in the women’s showers has caused water damage in a secure custody area.

City of Winnipeg spokesman David Driedger confirmed the faulty installation was responsible for water backing up and leaking into the area directly below the shower room on April 29.

“The drain was cleared shortly thereafter, and the leak stopped,” he said on Wednesday in an email.

“At this time, there is no cost estimate or time frame to complete the repairs to the drains.”

It’s not the first time a defect has been found in the former Canada Post processing plant, which was converted into the police headquarters.

Caspian Construction and Ottawa-based designer Adjeleian Allen Rubeli Ltd. were hired by the city in 2011 to convert the building into the police HQ, but the $210-million project opened two years late and about $75 million over budget.

Last year, the city filed a statement of claim against the companies because of what it says are more than $10 million in alleged deficiencies since it opened, including water leakage, faulty drainage,a missing sewage pit and pump upgrades, air flow too high or too low, missing light switches and delays in the emergency lighting.

The biggest alleged problem is a structural issue on the main floor that could force the relocation of some workers until repairs are completed.

Finance chairman Coun. Scott Gillingham said the latest issue “appears to be yet another problem related to faulty workmanship… These problems translate into, at minimum, an inconvenience for employees and costs to the taxpayers for repairs.”

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca