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One year ago, 84 residents of Kelowna’s Hadgraft Wilson Place were forced to evacuate their homes, leaving them uncertain about the future of their living arrangements.
Megan Beckmann, one of the displaced residents, recalls the moment she walked into the building as the evacuation news was being delivered.“I watched as the room burst into tears. It was a very hard watch,” she said.The evacuation was prompted by concerns over ground shifting and cracks that were discovered in the building’s foundation. These issues were attributed to construction work at the nearby UBC Okanagan downtown campus.“That began the journey to frequent moving and hardships, financial hardships, and here we are a year later with very little information and answers and low accountability,” said Beckmann.
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In February, UBC Properties Trust responded to the civil claim filed by the residents, denying all allegations of negligence, harm, and damage. One month later, a six-person task force, representing the City of Kelowna, UBC Properties Trust, and Pathways Abilities Society, is coming together to address the future of the building.Alan Clay, executive director of Pathways Abilities Society, emphasized the importance of this initiative.“The objective really is to plan a path forward, what does it look like,” he said. “Nothing is off the table in terms of what we’re looking at.”
While Beckmann acknowledges the positive intentions behind the task force, she believes this effort should have come sooner.“It would have been nice to see this kind of effort a year ago,” she said. “It feels like it’s a little bit late to come out and say they are doing this to help mediate the damage,” said Beckmann.Hadgraft Wilson Place, operated by Pathways, has been a source of subsidized housing for a diverse community. Many residents still don’t know when, or even if, they’ll be able to return to the building.“It’s too early to tell, certainly that’s one of the options. Everything is being looked at and assessed, and hopefully in the coming weeks, we’ll have something to share,” said Clay.
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