A big thorn – in the form of a draining, extended lawsuit – was recently removed from the side of Vancouver’s Pinewood Sound and the shop is now moving forward, with a major slate of projects in the house and an eye toward possible expansion.

Pinewood had been laboring under the strain of a six-year court battle with construction company Ledcor Industries, which began when that company caused structural damage to one of the exterior walls of the Pinewood studios during construction of a new high-rise in the audio facility’s Yaletown neighborhood.

The construction noise and damage provided a significant impediment to audio business as usual at Pinewood, which was forced to turn away work during the construction period.

The facility was awarded an initial victory two years ago, a decision which was then appealed by Ledcor. The final judgment was handed down earlier this fall and represented a roughly $1-million settlement.

The amount is lower than the shop had aimed for, but the victory does pave the way for getting on with building the business again, says Pinewood director of business development Greg Nielsen.

The facility is currently providing audio post services for four major features being shot in Vancouver: Phoenix Pictures’ Lake Placid with Bridget Fonda and Bill Pullman, Universal’s Pittsburgh, starring Norm MacDonald, and Dudley Do-Right, and Leslie Nielsen’s new feature Camouflage from Interlight Pictures. Pinewood is also working on Mainframe series War Planets and recently completed cbs mow Marriage of Convenience.

With the suit settled, Pinewood is also set to begin concentrating on expansion initiatives, says Greg Nielsen, which include plans to establish a fully digital theater. Pinewood currently has two locations in Vancouver, the Yaletown site and a location at Lions Gate Studios, which Nielsen says may be first up for expansion.

Pinewood opened in Yaletown almost 25 years ago when the neighborhood was significantly less popular than it is now. During the construction boom and the ensuing court battle, the shop, at the time one of the biggest players in the city’s audio industry, had to downsize.

The shop is now reestablishing itself in a booming Vancouver film and tv market. Nielsen cites a recent phenomenon of l.a.-based companies calling to inquire about doing audio post in Vancouver for projects not filmed in the city and says Pinewood has a number of quotes outstanding for those types of projects.