A new lawsuit alleges that recent renovations and added heavy materials to the top of the Champlain Towers South condominium were the final “straw that broke the spine” of the building and led to its collapse.
The lawsuit, filed by a building resident named Steve Rosenthal againsts the Champlain Towers Condominium Association, alleges that “weight bearing load” was added atop the condo using a crane without properly testing, inspecting, and evaluating the structural integrity of the building.
The owners of the building were days away from beginning to pay for at least $9 million in repairs that had been recommended by a structural-engineering firm’s 40-year building repair and restoration plan. Engineers from the firm said some of the aforementioned roof repairs had begun, but concrete restoration had not begun at the time of the condo’s collapse.