STAY CONNECTED TO VIBRANTVICTORIA
WHAT'S HAPPENING ON CITIFIED VICTORIA
Owner impressed by loyalty of workers at $11-million job
LOOKING GOOD: Moe Sihota shows the rebuilt hotel in Langford that was destroyed a year ago during a construction fire.
Photograph by : Ray Smith, Times Colonist
Bill Cleverley, Times Colonist
Published: Friday, October 13, 2006
A year after his Langford hotel burned to the ground while still under construction, former New Democratic politician Moe Sihota says the project is back on track.
In fact, Sihota said yesterday, the construction now is at a more advanced stage than when the fire hit last Oct. 8.
"We're moving along quite well. We'll probably open in April or May," Sihota said. "It was a little frustrating. We had to deal with all the insurance-related issues but we finally got through those."
The 120-room, $11-million Sheraton Four Points suburban hotel on McCallum Road next to Costco went up in smoke on a Saturday when only a few workers were on the site. No one was hurt.
It was ultimately determined that the fire was sparked by a generator with a leaky fuel line, said Sihota, who is building the project with developers Ravi Grewal and Mel Dhaliwal.
The four workers fired up the generator and went to work in another part of the building.
Sihota said the generator was new, but its fuel line was defective and cracked. "So when the generator was started up, the fuel leaked out and ignited the generator which blew up and, in turn, ignited the building."
Reconstruction started in late March. In September, it reached the stage where it had been at the time the fire struck.
"Now we're kind of moving forward again. ... We've lost a year, but we'll open at the best part of the new year," Sihota said.
Sihota has been particularly impressed with the loyalty shown by the workers who returned to the project despite the active construction market.
"That was probably my biggest worry that we would lose trades or see a significant increase in construction costs, and none of that has materialized. The guys have been very good ... about honouring their previous contracts," he said.
Langford has guaranteed the project five years free of property taxes.
Sihota is optimistic about the market potential in the booming community. "We're getting lots of inquiries for both rooms and banquet facilities, so you can see that there's strong demand for a hotel in that part of town."
© Times Colonist (Victoria) 2006
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I'm glad Moe stuck with the hotel plan instead of going condo.
