Thursday, October 02, 2008
Lodging complaints
State officials are looking into former employee claims of asbestos and other poor conditions at the vacant Patrick Henry Hotel.
Photo courtesy of Howard Wright
Fallen ceiling tiles and other damage were seen in a Patrick Henry Hotel room. This photo and others were shown to a state agency.
KYLE GREEN | The Roanoke Times
A year ago this month, the Patrick Henry Hotel was forced to shut down after its temporary occupancy permit expired.
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A state agency is investigating evidence of asbestos at the vacant Patrick Henry Hotel in downtown Roanoke, based on complaints of poor working conditions from former employees.
A Roanoke representative with the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry this week visited the dilapidated structure on Jefferson Street, a historic lodging property that has been closed to the public since last year.
At least two people at a time work at the hotel around the clock, conducting general maintenance and fire watches for safety purposes, said Roanoke Fire-EMS spokeswoman Tiffany Bradbury. She did not know the total number of employees who work at the Patrick Henry.
Howard Wright, a former 20-year employee of the Patrick Henry, said he snapped photos of the hotel's 10th-floor rooms, revealing holes in the ceiling where water has leaked, tile littering the floor, and mold and asbestos on ceilings and walls. This week, he took the pictures to the Department of Labor and Industry's Roanoke office.
Wright claims that he lost his job at the hotel last month because he complained about working conditions. The hotel workers are employed by Affirmative Equities Co., the New York-based owner of the Patrick Henry. Andrew Jubelt, president of the company, did not return a call for comment about the hotel's condition.
It's unclear when the Department of Labor and Industry's investigation will be complete.
"We will be looking at allegations," said Jennifer Wester, director of cooperative programs for the department. The agency administers Occupational Safety and Health Administration rules.
Affirmative Equities owns the Patrick Henry through a limited partnership, Patrick Henry Hotel Associates. Jubelt bought the hotel for $3 million in 1990, with plans to convert the 1925 property into senior housing.
But the project has experienced a number of false starts, including at least four moves by lenders to foreclose on the property.
In October 2007, the Patrick Henry was forced to shut down after its temporary occupancy permit expired. The property did not have an updated sprinkler system, and it was out of compliance with city code.
In July, its city building permit expired.
Affirmative Equities owes $53,634 in real estate taxes to the city of Roanoke, and on Monday, that amount will rise to about $77,300 if it is not paid, said Dana Long, manager of Roanoke's billings and collections department.
If the taxes still are unpaid on Dec. 31, marking more than one year of delinquency, the hotel will be eligible for a tax sale.
Other working conditions at the Patrick Henry have been less than ideal, according to another former employee, Ernie Horn. He stopped working part time at the hotel in August when he was taken off the schedule unexpectedly.
For at least a year, employees did not receive their paychecks on time, he said. Also, last winter, the hotel's water was cut off for three months. Employees did not have heat, and the toilets did not work, Horn said.
Joy Barlow, who has been general manager at the Patrick Henry and still works there, did not return a call for comment about the hotel's conditions and employees.
