USOC headquarters' latest headache: falling snow, ice

Chunks of snow and ice falling off the roof of the six-story U.S. Olympic Committee headquarters on Monday shut down a block of South Tejon Street during the busy lunch hour and one westbound lane of Colorado Avenue, potentially adding another costly chapter to the building’s troubled history.

Tejon Street from Colorado to Pikes Peak avenues and the westbound lane of East Colorado Avenue from Tejon Street to South Nevada Avenue were closed about 11 a.m. because of the danger to pedestrians and drivers.

The streets reopened in the early evening, but barricades remained blocking the sidewalk.

Lt. Brian Keys, of the Colorado Springs Fire Department, said chunks of ice falling off the building at 27 S. Tejon St. damaged four cars parked along Colorado Avenue about 9 a.m. and prompted the closing of the streets and barricading of sidewalks.

He said the snow and ice slipped off after the drains froze over.

The aluminum roof of the building is flat on top with a long slant which creates an overhang. The snow and ice is slowly sliding off of the overhang as it melts in the sun.

“I’m assuming this incident will be looked into by the building’s owners,” Keys said.

That may not be as simple as it sounds given the troubled history of the building, which formerly housed a Western clothing store and a furniture showroom.

The building was gutted and renovated as part of a three-way deal in 2008 involving the city, developer LandCo Equity Partners and the USOC under which the USOC got a new headquarters downtown in return for agreeing to remain in Colorado Springs.

The deal unraveled after a series of embarrassing problems, including a federal lawsuit filed by LandCo against the city and the USOC. After months of legal wrangling, LandCo dropped the lawsuit, and the city and the USOC signed a new agreement without LandCo.

City spokeswoman Sue Skiffington-Blumberg said she didn’t know who was responsible for the exterior maintenance of the building, which is owned by the city and LandCo, but that the city immediately contacted the architect, Denver-based OZ Architecture.

“Our position, at this point, is that we believe that there’s a problem with the design, and they’re looking at it as we speak,” she said. “It will be corrected and rectified, but it’s a design flaw, at this point, in our opinion.”

OZ Architecture acknowledged it was working with the city to determine the cause of the sliding snow and ice and to figure out a remedy.

“There are snow retention devices and gutters currently installed that have been effective in preventing this type of occurrence in other recent snow events,” said Kelly Davis, spokesman for the architect. “However, in light of this most recent occurrence, OZ is working with the city, the contractor and the manufacturer to understand the specific conditions that may have caused these systems to inadequately control snow in this particular event.”

The owners of the cars damaged by the ice and snow slides don’t have to worry about being compensated, however.

The city is “going to make sure that the people who had damage to their car are taken care of and then we’ll figure out on the back end who owes what to whom between the owners,” Skiffington-Blumberg said.

The block of Tejon Street was closed down just before the busy lunch rush that is the bread and butter for most downtown restaurants.

“As soon as they shut down the street I knew what it would do,” said Brandie Pope, assistant general manger of the Ritz Grill, 15 S. Tejon. “We had a decent lunch crowd but I have a feeling that it definitely made an impact. It’s nice out today, I think more people would have come out.”

At the Olive Branch restaurant next door to the USOC headquarters, the sidewalk was temporarily closed out front. Tricia Meltzer, whose husband owns the restaurant, said they worked with fire officials to open up the sidewalk so customers could use the front door. She’s more worried about what will happen when the snow and ice start melting on the north side of the building that hangs over the restaurant.

“We’re worried,” she said. “We’ve been told it could go through the roof.”