Yahoo Finance Liberty Tower: Residents of ANOTHER high-rise building forced to evacuate
Some Melbourne residents have had an awful end to the weekend.
Yesterday evening, hundreds were forced to evacuate from their 238-apartment block in Melbourne’s CBD after a water main burst and flooded the basement and impacted the tower’s electricity.
At 7pm last night, emergency services were called for repairs to the 22-storey block Liberty Tower at 620 Collins Street, which sits on the corner of Spencer Street opposite Southern Cross Station.
Building manager Carlo Innamorati said the building had be hit by “several electrical issues”, and it is understood that lights, heating and lifts don’t work, according to Property Observer.
The evacuation saw hundreds of people forced to leave their apartments after the tower was declared uninhabitable, according to Nine Network.
Residents won’t be able to go home in the coming days as repairs continue.
Liberty Tower was built in 2002, designed by Elenberg Fraser and constructed by Mainland Properties/Pan Urban developer Morry Schwartz.
Third Australian high-rise evacuated in six months
The evacuation comes after residents of two Sydney high-rises had to be evacuated after cracking and structural damage were discovered.
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Mascot Towers occupants were told in mid-June to get out after cracks in the structure and concerns about the “movement” and the integrity of the building.
On Christmas Eve last year, residents of the 36-storey Opal Tower in Sydney’s Olympic Park had to be evacuated after finding cracking noises and cracks in the walls.
A new report from Deakin University found 97 per cent of apartment buildings in New South Wales and 85 per cent across the nation have some form of structural defect.
–with AAP
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