Hadgraft Wilson Place is no longer safe to enter.

The low-income apartments were evacuated under order from the Kelowna fire chief on March 31, after significant damage was found in the structure as a result of ground shifting from neighbouring construction of the University of BC OkanaganB次元官网网址檚 downtown campus.

On the week of May 15, Pathways Abilities Society and Hadgraft Wilson Place residents should have been celebrating one year since the building opened, but they instead received news that no one could enter the building for any reason. Previously, Pathways had the ability to grant access to the building.

Executive director Charisse Daley said, B次元官网网址淭he engineers have come in and said that no one can access the building until we put shoring and jacks in the parkade.B次元官网网址�

Pathways, with support from BC Housing, has had to hire engineers of its own to assess the building on Bertram Street. B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檝e reached out to (UBC Properties Trust) to see if theyB次元官网网址檒l cover some of the costs and we have yet to hear anything.B次元官网网址�

UBCOB次元官网网址檚 most recent statement said piling, a process of inserting slender columns into the ground to help support the load of the building, is currently underway.

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The residents of Hadgraft have a little bit of stability for the next three months as they have been put up in brand new dorms at Okanagan CollegeB次元官网网址檚 Kelowna campus, but residents Monique Saebels and Megan Beckmann said the move-out date of Aug. 15 is always on their minds.

B次元官网网址淚t doesnB次元官网网址檛 feel like things will get better,B次元官网网址� Saebels said.

B次元官网网址淚f security isnB次元官网网址檛 even allowed in the building that should be yet another red flag for why they should stop construction,B次元官网网址� Beckmann added.

Construction is continuing on the new campus development despite several structures being evacuated due to building instability.

The pair are asking the citizens of Kelowna to not forget about the them.

B次元官网网址淪tudents are coming back here and we are going to have to leave. The brutal reality is that we have no options at this point,B次元官网网址� Saebels said.

Both women explained that many of HadgraftB次元官网网址檚 residents were on waitlists with BC Housing for years before being accepted into the building.

None of the residents have been placed back on the waitlist for housing as of yet.

B次元官网网址淲e donB次元官网网址檛 plan on giving up on the building yet,B次元官网网址� Beckmann said.

She said itB次元官网网址檚 not just about getting home now, but also about preventing similar problems as the city continues to develop.

B次元官网网址淭his could be you next,B次元官网网址� Saebels added. B次元官网网址淩eally think about your city council and the things that are coming through and how theyB次元官网网址檙e going to affect you. In an evacuation where are you going to go?B次元官网网址�

Hadgraft Wilson Place residents are glad to be together for the next couple of months, but come Aug. 15 they know the group could be split up again if their apartment building still canB次元官网网址檛 be occupied.

A class-action lawsuit has been filed on behalf of Hadgraft Wilson Place residents against UBC Properties Trust, the city of Kelowna, and other parties involved in the construction.

UBCO and the city have declined to comment on the lawsuit.

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