Cracked up
By Brandy Nance
Originally published 01:18 p.m., January 23, 2008
Updated 01:18 p.m., January 23, 2008
The Emporia Animal Shelter is showing some signs of aging — which to many is surprising, because the shelter only opened about five years ago.
The Emporia Animal Shelter at 12th Avenue and Hatcher Street opened up on Feb. 11, 2003, according to Gazette files. The $350,000 complex was built to replace the old building that had become a “picture of neglect, squalor and general unconcern,” according to the 2003 article. Then Emporia Police Chief Mike Heffron said the shelter was a building Emporia could be proud of.
“This is one of the nicest facilities (in the state) that is run by the city,” Heffron said in 2003. “I think other cities will be coming to see ours.”
But a mere five years after that 2003 grand opening, the building is showing signs of wear. Emporia Police Department Lt. Pat Ford and Emporia Police Chief Gary Smith led a tour of the new building recently to point out some of the building’s problems. Smith said the problems aren’t serious — yet. And the department is staying on top of it and fixing issues as they surface.
Ford said the building is shifting two ways — one part of the building is going one way and the other part is going another way. The problem is evident as soon as one walks into the front door and into the lobby area. There is a crack in the wall in the lobby, the doors are gaping at the top and there are cracks in the caulking of the bathroom.
Over where the adoptable cats are held, there are more cracks. A bucket sits in the doorway to catch water coming through the ceiling.
In the laundry room, there are more problems with water. The water runs under the door, under the wall and into the 72-hour cat room.
“If it’s raining hard, it’s almost like a small creek running through there,” Ford said as he peered into the cat holding room.
The roof in the dog kennel area used to leak so much that personnel had to poke holes in the ceiling tiles to keep the tiles from falling down, Ford said. That has since been fixed. But more problems in the kennel area remain. There are more cracks in the concrete in the area and cracks in the kennels themselves.
“The cracks here don’t follow the normal cracks of concrete,” Ford said.
The cracks along the walls are troublesome, Ford said.
“The state would frown on the ones in the kennels,” he said. “They (can) hold disease.”
Ford said the kennels are sterilized each day, keeping the cracks sanitized so disease isn’t spread.
“One or two things we have here in our favor, they disinfect the kennels every day,” Ford added.
As for the doors in the building, once in a while they have to be re-adjusted so they will open, Ford said.
“You don’t want to get to the point where the doors won’t open,” Ford said.
While the building has some issues, Smith said the department has done a good job keeping up with it.
“They are staying ahead of it,” Smith said. “They’ve kept an eye on it.”
So why is a 5-year-old building showing so many problems? Ford said part of the problem could be the dirt under the building. He said the dirt likely wasn’t compacted as much as it should have been, causing the building to sink.
Smith said a block building is going to see some settling. He said that city officials have been out to look at the building and are aware of the problems. The building isn’t generating any code violations, however. Emporia Fire Marshal Tom Andrews said Tuesday that the last inspection of the animal shelter was April 2007 and there were no code violations.
The contractor for the building project was Emporia Construction. Paul Challender, president of Emporia Construction, said Tuesday morning he hadn’t heard of any of the problems until then.
“Any new building has a little motion,” Challender said. “I have no control over what is underneath it or the design.”
Challender said high water usage in a building such as the animal shelter, which uses water every day to clean out kennels, can cause settling and swelling of the ground below. The ground takes on moisture and swells as it gets wet. Challender said some cracking is normal in buildings.
“It depends on how strong the design is,” he added.
The building’s designer was BG Consultants. Consultant Bruce Boettcher said personnel of the company went out and looked at the building. He said they looked at the settlement cracks within the walls.
“To me it appears some of the footings are starting to settle and showing up in the cracks of the walls,” Boettcher said.
Boettcher said the footings are a part of the structure and hold the walls up. The soil under the footing holds the footings up.
“Normally your walls are only as good as your footing and your footing is only as good as the soil beneath it,” Boettcher said.
Boettcher said the settling and cracks can be normal.
“You’d rather not see it with this type of building,” he said.
While the building is showing some problems, Smith said the problems with the building do not affect everyday operation. He said the building is functional and is not causing any safety issues. Cracks and other issues are repaired as needed.
“Obviously there is some concern,” Smith said. “Some things to monitor.”
admireed (anonymous) says...
Keep construction design minimal. Accept low bid. And what do you get?
January 23, 2008 at 1:49 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Pollyanna (anonymous) says...
It's too bad to read this report about the animal shelter building. Our family adopted a pet this summer from the shelter and we found the experience there to be good. What does horrify me, however, is the way animals are put down. We are one of if not the only shelter in Kansas who still uses the chamber. I know this has been discussed previously, but what can we do to change our shelter to injection euthanization? This old method is barbaric and inhumane.
January 23, 2008 at 3:07 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )