The opening of a new hotel in the intercity area is facing another delay.
The city’s building inspections department placed an order on the Marriott TownePlace Suites property after it became apparent the sub-floor was failing on the second through fifth floors of the building.
City of Thunder Bay personnel confirmed to Dougall Media Monday that issues at the five-storey hotel started to become evident before Christmas.
“With the size of the cracking they did find some of the sub-floor was failing so once that took place an order was placed on the property and they started to make corrections,” said chief building official Des Stolz.
“There were incidents where some of the machines or equipment was actually punching through the floor.”
Construction of the hotel, which is located adjacent to the Real Canadian Superstore near the intersection of Harbour Expressway and Memorial Avenue, began in late 2012.
Stolz said the cause of the deficiency is mostly unknown, but said developers had noticed some shrinkage in the product.
The problem is not common when dealing with multi-floor buildings.
“It’s not a normal problem, it’s unusual for a building of this size and nature,” he said.
“We typically do not see structural problems like this on buildings in Thunder Bay.”
Stolz dispelled rumours of the building sinking into the ground, saying that only issue was the flooring. He added the flooring is expected to be corrected within the next four weeks, at which point the hotel can apply for an occupancy permit.
Emails sent to the Easton’s Group of Hotels were unanswered as of mid-afternoon.
The automated greeting at the local phone number listed online for the hotel says that reservations are being taken starting for March 14.
