Lewiston code enforcement condemns Ramada Inn building

Apr. 20—LEWISTON — The city's code enforcement department condemned the Ramada Hotel and Conference Center at 490 Pleasant St., according to officials.

Jon Connor, Lewiston's new director of planning and code enforcement, said the building was condemned due to several violations that were brought to the business owner's attention earlier this month and have since not been fixed.

The business requested a lodging establishment license earlier this year which requires inspections from local code enforcement and fire inspector as well as the state health inspector, Connor said. The inspection was carried out April 5 and five items were noted that needed to be fixed, primarily the fire alarm system which was not functioning.

Connor said the business owner was notified of the violations, provided notes on what needs to be fixed and was given time to fix the issues. Connor's office requested further information from the business owner, but never received it.

A follow-up visit was conducted last week and none of the violations had been fixed, Connor said.

Outgoing CEO Adam Jones said the business had an independent inspection conducted about a year ago by Eastern Fire in which the fire alarm system was reading "trouble mode."

Jones' department reviewed the 32-page report which detailed a diagnosis of failure throughout the entire system. This effectively meant smoke detectors, pull stations, horns, lights, sprinklers and alerts to an alarm company would not be prompted by the system. The owners reported the fix would cost $96,100.

Jones said the report was not known to his office until the April 5 inspection.

"They confirmed with us that they were in the process of getting it fixed ... and provided a report to fire inspector and Code which outlined all of those discrepancies of the system," said Jones.

The owners were given "clear and precise requirements" to send an update proving some progress, whether that would be a concrete date that repairs would be complete or a deposit on a contract for having the repairs made.

"We needed some assurance that it was moving forward because we weren't really sure given the age of the report if it was just kind of being ignored at this point by the owners," Jones said.

Jones said the deadline for an update passed and after two days of silence, his office and the fire inspector performed a follow-up inspection. They discovered none of the issues outlined in the inspection failure were resolved.

Jones said he condemned the building after weighing the owner's promise of resolving the violations within 15 days. With an estimated 45-60 guests at any given time at the establishment, it would be too great a health safety issue not to condemn the building, he said.

"The department isn't in a position to remove guests at this time, but we did make everyone aware that the structure itself is not safe or is unfit for occupancy, and that is solely based around the fire alarm system."

Jones said the business's first step for lifting the condemnation would be to provide proof that repairs are scheduled, then proof of deposit for the repairs and then Eastern Fire would have to provide proof in a report that the system is operational.

"We would have to then confirm it through the fire department with the fire inspector and possibly run some tests on site ourselves," Jones said. "Then, at that point, we could lift the condemnation."

The Ramada Hotel & Conference Center was used in December as a temporary shelter for families displaced by serious flooding. The hotel was also used to temporarily house asylum seekers last year.

A representative from Wyndham Hotels & Resorts was not immediately available for comment.

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