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Rain leaks curl floor, closing the new gym
By MAUREEN BYRNE AHERN SEMINOLE -- Basketball players won't be able to shoot hoops in the Recreation Center gym for a while. A water leak has forced the city to close the room until repairs are made and the hardwood floor is replaced. "It's just one of those unfortunate circumstances," City Manager Frank Edmunds said Wednesday, watching workers remove sections of the floor. Rainwater is seeping through the foundation's easterly wall, causing the maple planks to warp, Edmunds said. "That's everybody's nightmare," said John Bowden with Irwin Contracting, the company that built the recreation complex. "No one is happy stuff like this happens, but sometimes it's how you deal with it that counts." The building is under warranty and Irwin is paying for the repairs, said Bowden, the company's director of operations. It will cost $60,000 to replace the floor, he said. The 6,600-square-foot gym is scheduled to reopen June 1. Basketball players are using the outside courts and exercise classes are being held in another room, said Jim Sheets, the city's recreation director. However, a youth basketball league with about 100 youngsters has been put on hold until the fall. Both racquetball courts will remain open during repairs. In December, two months after the $6.1-million facility opened, recreation employees began noticing some of the wood planks curling at the edges. Workers sanded and finished the boards hoping that would solve the problem. "After time went by, it was obvious it wasn't a temporary condition, but it appeared to be a water intrusion," Edmunds said. A forensic architectural firm concluded the moisture was the result of surface water coming from the east side of the gym. The city's fire department even sprayed water near the wall to simulate rain. Workers also dug out the dirt around the exterior of the wall. There they found what appears to be small gaps in the foundation and, most likely, the source of the leak. "Once the water got in it just started moving across the floor," Bowden said. Workers will apply a waterproof coating to the wall, a task which typically isn't done during a construction project, Bowden said. Workers also will remove the ground near the wall and replace it with new dirt and grass, he said. "Those two things will eliminate the water going in there," Bowden said. Before the new floor is installed, the gym's concrete surface will be monitored for a few weeks to make sure the leaking has stopped. If no water is detected, workers will begin a six-week process of layering plastic sheeting, rubber pads, two layers of plywood and maple boards. Then the wood is sealed. The leak isn't the first problem the contractor experienced during construction, a job that entailed building an addition and renovating the existing center. Muck in the ground, an asbestos inspection and a shortage of supplies and workers contributed to a five-month delay in opening the 58,000-square-foot center. "Yeah, I'd say it's been a challenging project," Bowden said. Yet work is ahead of schedule for the center's pool, Edmunds said. So far, the ground has been excavated and a preliminary layer of concrete has been applied. The city is hoping to open the pool by June 1.
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