Like most residents at Park Place in Oliver, Joy Vangen is “living on hope, I guess.”

That was her sentiment while talking about her plans to vacate the building this summer.

Vangen is one of 60 residents who have to find other accommodation while engineers figure out what repairs are needed to fix structural damage reportedly caused by an earthquake in 2011.

Numerous cracking on the main floor is a concern as the building continues to move due to groundwater pressure.

“We’re real anxious . . . it’s a very tough time for residents,” Vangen said, noting they have to find new homes in a community where it’s hard to find rental accommodations.

“I’m on auto-pilot. I haven’t found my accommodations yet. I have no family in town,” Vangen said.

Resident Linda Gergely said her first reaction to the news was disbelief. “I thought, oh, it’s not that bad.”

But it was, and the devastation soon set in.

“I’ve only been here a year and I still have boxes that I haven’t unpacked yet.”

Gergely said the situation has caused a lot of financial and emotional hardship among residents.

“A lot of people walking around here are kind of dazed right now.”

Gergely was recently appointed as evacuation coordinator for Park Place, helping residents schedule their moves with the use of one elevator. She noted some residents have already found alternate accommodations, such as Heritage House.

Gergely said many people are asking about storage space availability, and what will happen to their property taxes.

Gergely said if anyone can offer assistance with rental accommodations, they can email [email protected].

Resident Cynthia England agreed the situation has turned everyone’s life upside down.

“This wasn’t in my plan. This was supposed to be my last move . . . but I have to accept what I cannot change.”

The chairman of the steward’s committee said she would like to move back to Park Place, but it could be two years before that is possible.

Strata secretary Stuart Syme said he’s angry because he and his wife moved to Park Place to retire, and they spent a lot of money to renovate their unit.

“We didn’t care how much we spent because we planned to die here. All that effort we put in and now we have to walk away.”

Commenting on the engineer’s report, Syme said the building is still moving because of what the earthquake did in 2011. He recalled that day clearly.

“I heard this God-awful bang. I opened the blinds and my chair began shaking sideways. I grabbed my desk because I had vertigo. I thought something had blown up outside.”

Prior to that event, the building sat there for 24 years without moving, Syme said.

He said the building may have been built on a swamp in 1986, but it was constructed on 5.5 feet of compacted fill under the direction of an engineer, who followed all of the regulations.

Syme said the engineer they hired to look at the structural damage indicated that Park Place is 100 feet from a known fault line.

“The report says that the Town is very close to an inferred Okanagan Valley fault line.”

But Syme said the light at the end of the tunnel is the fact Park Place has earthquake insurance (the building is insured for $6.3 million).

The strata council is waiting for the insurance company to make a ruling. The next step is a study to determine what repairs are needed.

Oliver Mayor Ron Hovanes met with property owners last week and was taken aback by the structural damage he observed.

“The place is a mess and it is still moving . . . it’s pretty crazy what’s going on.”

Hovanes said that Dale Kronebusch, regional district emergency coordinator, is contacting the strata and an agency will be brought in for a needs assessment if requested. This information will then be passed on to other provincial bodies. Hovanes said he also connected with Boundary-Similkameen MLA Linda Larson, who is also going to meet with the strata council.

Hovanes acknowledged there are fault lines in the area, recalling his childhood when his house used to shake during seismic events.

Local realtor Beth Garrish is organizing a meeting at Town council chambers on Wednesday, June 19 at 7 pm to see how the community can help Park Place residents.

Garrish said there doesn’t appear to be any concerted, unified movement to provide some assistance.

“I don’t see this as much different from a catastrophic flood or landslide where the community rallies around and helps out those affected.” 

Lyonel Doherty

Oliver Chronicle