ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, March 14, 1996 TAG: 9603140063
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG
SOURCE: KENNETH SINGLETARY STAFF WRITER
Town Council unanimously accepted a $600,000 insurance settlement at a special meeting Wednesday for the damage sustained to the former Lowe's Building after a January snowstorm.
The building is the site of the town's proposed recreation center. An engineering firm now will study whether the building should be repaired or razed.
"I think it's a very fair settlement," said council member Wayne Booth.
"The main thing now is to make sure it doesn't happen again," said council member Scott Weaver.
"We will make sure that it's structurally sound," said Bob Oliver, a partner with the Blacksburg engineering and architectural firm of Mills, Oliver & Webb, which is drawing up plans for the repairs.
His firm now will look at its options in repairing the building. They may recommend repairing the building as it stands or completely razing it and rebuilding from the ground up, Oliver said.
"We plan on moving ahead with it," he said.
The settlement offer, Oliver said, is "a very fair figure. I think it will serve the town well."
Town Manager John Lemley said he met with OIiver and the adjustor from Harleysville Insurance Company, based in Harleysville, Penn., for three to four hours Tuesday. The adjustor offered a settlement of $597,000, and Lemley asked them to round off that figure to $600,000. The town must pay a $1,000 deductible.
Lemley said the insurance company spent $98,000 of its own money to clean up the building so it could make a damage estimate.
He said the adjustor traveled to Christiansburg from Massachusetts twice for the estimate and negotiations.
The building's roof collapsed in part because it was uneven, allowing snow to collect more than 5 feet deep in some places, Weaver said.
The collapse has been the most recent controversy surrounding the building, which the town bought for $1.4 million in April 1995. At that time officials said they expected to spend $1 million for remodeling.
Residents criticized the building for being inadequate for a recreation center, saying the proposed basketball courts would not be regulation width, audience seating would be obscured and the building's roof supports would obstruct play.
Wednesday, Oliver said the plans since then have been changed so that the courts will be regulation length and width. He said the seating will be portable and the building's roof supports would pose fewer obstructions than many area indoor courts.
LENGTH: Medium: 54 linesby CNB