Selkirk College says a student housing project at its Castlegar campus that suffered “substantial” water damage will still be ready to accept students in September 2024.
Stephen Monahan, the college’s manager of facilities capital projects, said heavy rain on Aug. 21 resulted in a leak.
“It originated from a construction sequencing issue at a time when the contractor was installing the permanent roof over the temporarily water-tight prefabricated module,” he explained. “Given the modules were at the finish stage, unfortunately there was some damage to flooring, drywall, millwork, and insulation.”
Monahan said most of the damage was on the third floor, but some rooms on the first and second floors were also affected.
The college hired a restoration company and a building drying expert who have now completed removing all the waterlogged materials. They also sprayed the building throughout with an anti-microbial solution and completed testing for moisture and air sampling for mould growth, which all came back negative.
“We’re now confident the water damage has been repaired, any risk of mould growth has been mitigated, and we’re ready to proceed with the rebuild process,” Monahan said.
The water leak won’t affect the original occupancy date, he added. While they may have had a soft opening sooner, the building will receive its first main cohort of students in the fall as originally scheduled. It will have 114 beds.
Meanwhile, construction remains on schedule on a 36-bed project at the Silver King campus in Nelson, which should be complete by the end of the year.
“We’re excited about the positive impact both of these buildings will have on the student experience, making our programs that much more accessible and reducing housing stress for both college students and the wider community,” Monahan said.
