CBJ: Bergmann Hotel shutdown and evictions imminent due to health and safety problems

Sign above the Bergmann Hotel's front door.
Sign above the Bergmann Hotel’s front door. (Photo by Quinton Chandler/KTOO)

Update | 10:48 a.m. Friday

Deputy City Manager Mila Cosgrove says the problems at the Third Street property are serious.

“There’s significant health and safety issues at the Bergmann including an inoperable sprinkler system for fire, inconsistent heating, no hot water, sewage issues and improper roofing,” she said. “All of those issues pose significant risks to the people who are tenants there.”

Bergmann Hotel owners have until 4 p.m. today to address the violations or the city is ordering its tenants out.

~ Jacob Resneck, KTOO

Original story | 10 p.m. Thursday

The owner of downtown Juneau’s historic Bergmann Hotel has until midday Friday to address various code violations dealing with health and safety issues — or else the city is ordering its tenants out.

City Manager Rorie Watt said in a written statement that the order was issued Thursday afternoon. He said it came after months of inspections, walkthroughs, and communication with the owner, including fire and building code violation notices dating back to October.

He said the owner was given “ample time to become compliant to little effect.”

Problems highlighted by the city include an inoperable sprinkler system, inadequate heating, no hot water, sewage issues and improper roofing.

The Bergmann Hotel was built in 1913 as housing for miners. It’s been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1977.

If the building must be cleared, Watt said the city is working with The Salvation Army and social service agencies to connect displaced tenants with housing and other assistance.

The building is controlled by Camilla Barrett who owns it through Breffni Place Properties LLC. State corporate records indicate Barrett lives in Edmonds, Washington, and that the limited liability corporation was incorporated in September.

Barrett is also a defendant named in a lawsuit brought by the city  in its attempt to recover the cost of demolishing the Gastineau Apartments, another derelict downtown property owned by an LLC controlled by the Barrett family.

Those apartments became uninhabitable after a fire in 2012. They deteriorated for years until the city demolished them in 2016.

Camilla Barrett – whose legal name is listed as Kathleen Barrett — could not be immediately reached for comment.

Jeremy Hsieh

Local News Reporter, KTOO

I dig into questions about the forces and institutions that shape Juneau, big and small, delightful and outrageous. What stirs you up about how Juneau is built and how the city works?

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