What’s with the new hotel with the inverted roofline that will dump snow into the middle of the structure? It’s the building under construction between Walmart and Home Depot. This has to be the most ridiculous roof ever for this area. – Sign me, Not Going With the Flow
Thanks for pitching the roof question to Action Line, who will put a unique slant on the story.
At first glance, the roofline does indeed seem oddly designed for a place that gets walloped by snowstorms and drenched by summer rains.
Well, maybe. Er, not so much. Last winter notwithstanding.
This year’s monsoon was a bust. We should call it a “nonsoon.”
And the winter thus far has featured a precipitous drop in temperatures but scant drops of precipitation.
Maybe Charlie Albert is on to something.
Charlie is the longtime local innkeeper who is building the dual-branded Sleep Inn/MainStay Suites hotel on Escalante Drive.
The 82-room hotel is co-owned by his son and daughter-in-law, Luke and Jennie.
Charlie has weathered many business cycles in his 40 years of hotel operations, so the roof design would not be a situation where Charlie would be in over his head.
Action Line raised the roof question. And as luck would have it, Charlie was on the rafters of his new hotel when his cellphone rang.
“How about that? I’m talking up here with the roofers right now,” he said.
To the casual observer, the inward-sloped roof is puzzling. But not when you consider this angle:
“The main issue is safety,” Charlie said. “It prevents big piles of snow from sliding off the building and hitting people or vehicles.”
Action Line understands, having had his car pummeled by a roof-avalanche many years ago.
There are other advantages to the design.
Rain won’t fall multiple stories and splash mud all over the place, creating drainage issues at the foundation.
The roofline also serves as an architectural feature that keeps the facility from looking box-like and uninviting.
“Don’t worry. We have several drains in the center of the building for melting snow and rain, and the roof isn’t flat so water isn’t going to sit there,” Charlie said.
The hotel is on track to open in April or May, “thanks to all the great local crews working on the project,” he said.
Charlie takes great pride in hiring all hometown contractors. “We have an experienced and quality all-Durango team,” he said.
“They’ve all worked together on many jobs over the years, so it keeps things on schedule and work done right.”
And that improves the workflow, the cash flow and the flow of water from the rooftop.
The Mea Culpa Mailbag has engendered a loaded gender question.
Boy, oh boy!
A reader, who self-identifies as “Wryawry,” asks about this syntactic tactic from a recent news item:
“Is there irony in ‘a Durango woman’ striving to be a ‘cover girl’? Wouldn’t it seem more likely for a Durango girl to aspire to becoming a cover woman?”
Action Line won’t man up to the challenge, preferring not to put on his big-boy pantsuit.
Thus, we don’t put the “show” in chauvinism or become a jingoist linguist.
Email questions to actionline@durangoherald.com or mail them to Action Line, The Durango Herald, 1275 Main Ave., Durango, CO 81301. You can request anonymity if your women’s intuition tells you to be more masculine.
