Thursday, September 17, 2015

It's only a problem when it rains. . .and it rains a lot in south Florida

These pictures were taken at the Lake Worth Casino building this morning (9/17). See the email from Juan Ruiz and response from Michael Bornstein below. This has been a problem since the Casino building was finished and is one of the reasons the 5,000 square foot space has been difficult to lease.
Clearly water leaking from under the doors. Note that the chair shown in the picture is used during events and is stored there. There was no storage provided for these sorts of furniture and fixtures in the failed plan by a previous city commission. If a restaurant were to take this space where would this stuff go?
Water leaking under the door and more items (including cardboard boxes) being stored in the unfinished second floor space.
More water. In the picture are ballroom chairs that are stored there for events. Where would these items be stored if this space were leased? Staff also presently uses this space for their offices.
Water creeping under one of the many doors in the finished ballroom. Water and wood flooring materials are not a good mix.
Another door in the ballroom where there is water intrusion. Here you can see the damage to the wood after repeated leaks. 
This is the southeast corner of the unfinished second floor space. The rags stuffed under the doors tell most of the story.
Here is the email from Mr. Ruiz:

We have been told that legal action of some kind has been underway since the building was turned over to the city. Or has it been? I don't think a permanent Certificate of Occupancy has been issued yet. I am not sure what the next level of legal action would be. Again—there was no one watching out for the City's interests during the construction of this $6 million+ albatross paid for primarily from water utility monies (translation: the Lake Worth taxpayer/utility user). It's a bit ironic that the building suffers from water-related problems. Karma?

Who is to blame for this mess? Here they are:
Note that Commissioner McVoy (still a sitting commissioner) wants to raise electric rates to fix the mistakes for which he and his cohorts are responsible.