By Michael Howell
Stevensville Hardware owner Phil Henderson has taken the Stevensville Playhouse to court alleging that the theater building, which is adjacent to his property, has a wall leaning over into his property interfering with his own plans for construction. Henderson also alleges that the building is unsafe and should be condemned.
Henderson has also taken his problem to Town Hall. He submitted a structural engineering report which he commissioned on the theater building to the Town’s building inspector about two months ago, asking that he look into the issue.
Building Inspector Dennis Monroe noted under items of interest in his monthly report to the Town Council last week that the report, by Beaudette Consulting Engineers (BCE), “sites serious concerns for life and safety of any occupants and others, because of lack of roof support as well as a leaning south wall of the structure.” He notes that the Stevensville Playhouse also requested a separate investigation by another engineering firm, Lacy & Ebeling Engineering, out of Great Falls.
“However, having reviewed only the initial report from BCE, it seems necessary to notify the Stevensville Playhouse that their structure is to be immediately considered unsafe for entry, occupancy, etc. Also, to order that a plan of action be presented to this office within 30 days to address the conditions as noted in the engineering report and that those conditions be abated within a reasonable amount of time. In the interim they are not to permit any entry inside the structure and take necessary precautions to warn and protect any members of the public in the area of the structure, including customers in the Stevensville Hardware store who are in the area of the south wall,” wrote Monroe.
A draft of that letter is being reviewed by the Town’s attorney.
Susan McCauley, President of the board of the non-profit Stevensville Playhouse, was at the Council meeting where the Building Inspector’s report was discussed and said that a separate investigation was being done but was not complete. She did, however, submit a letter she had received from the engineering firm addressing the current situation.
In the letter the engineering firm states that although they observed similar defects in the structure to the ones noted by BCE and agree with the determination that structural repairs are needed, “The playhouse has withstood many snow storms and earthquakes during its life and will likely continue to function well into the future. We do not mean to downplay the need to perform the recommended repairs, but we do not feel that the building needs to be condemned at this point.”
Mayor Mim Mack said on Sunday that he had subsequently met with BCE and the Building Inspector and believed that if the parties could get together there might be room for agreement to leave the building open while the structural investigation continues.
“I think I heard enough from BCE that if some mitigating action was taken immediately, such as assuring that snow load levels on the roof are kept down, and an action plan was formed to resolve the structural issues that could be implemented in a reasonable amount of time, that they might agree to some delay.”
“Nobody wants to see the theater closed down,” said Mim Mack.
Mim Mack said the lawsuit was another matter but that if the parties could resolve this immanent building closure issue it might lead to a resolution of the lawsuit as well.
“I think we can move to some sort of resolution of this without a closure,” said Mim Mack, “but the Stevensville Playhouse will have to make a concerted effort to resolve immediate issues and commit themselves to making the needed repairs in a reasonable amount of time.”