Urgent apartment block evacuation triggers provincial, municipal talks on policy changes

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This article was published 23/05/2024 (524 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The municipal and provincial governments are discussing the potential for policy changes in the wake of the emergency evacuation of the Birchwood Terrace apartment block.

“There is ongoing discussion between the City of Winnipeg and the Province of Manitoba related to this site … to see if anything needs to change, needs to change in legislation, needs to (change) in city bylaws,” Mayor Scott Gillingham told reporters at an unrelated press conference Wednesday.

“This is an opportunity for us to take a look at what we do.”

Some 250 residents living in the five-storey apartment complex at 2440 Portage Ave. were given 12 hours notice to move out May 9, after engineers identified rotting structural support beams placing the building at risk of collapse.

The city ordered the evacuation after it was notified of the third-party inspection, it said in a previous news release.

Some evacuees sought shelter with family and friends, while others found support from the city and the Canadian Red Cross, which arranged accommodations at various Winnipeg hotels until the end of the month.

Displaced resident Judith Stanley called for the public release of the inspection reports. She questioned how such significant structural issues could have gone unnoticed.

“The rot in those pillars underground did not happen overnight,” said Stanley, who lived at the property for 10 years.

“They literally put our lives in danger.”

Property owner Ladco Company has not released the report that prompted the evacuation orders.

It did not respond to requests for comment Thursday.

When asked whether the city would commit to releasing the report, Gillingham said it was not possible.

“It’s not the city’s report to be made public,” he said. “I’m not, in any way, defending the property owner; I am just saying there are processes in place and we have to honour that.”

The mayor noted there are bylaws that require routine maintenance of commercial and residential properties, saying, “every building owner is responsible” to ensure their buildings are safe for tenants.

“Don’t underestimate the requirement of a building owner in our bylaws to maintain a property in such a way to ensure that it meets code compliance, that it meets safety regulations, that is meets fire code compliance, as well. It is not just a passing suggestion,” he said.

The mayor could not provide specifics about what, if any, changes could be considered, deferring comment to city chief administrative officer Michael Jack.

“There’s a lot here that is outside the city’s purview,” Gillingham added.

Jack was not made available to comment Thursday, but the City of Winnipeg provided a brief statement via email.

“There have been discussions with the province confirming property owner’s requirements under the Manitoba Building Code, which states the property owner shall not permit their premises to be in an unsafe condition. The city does not conduct routine structural inspections of properties and that remains to be the case,” spokesperson Kalen Qually said.

Construction crews were on site at the shuttered apartment complex Thursday afternoon, working behind a large metal fence that encircled the property’s perimeter, ending at Assiniboine Crescent.

A security officer sat watch over the scene from behind the wheel of a parked car on the residential street, where the city confirmed approximately 30 homeowners have been warned to be prepared to evacuate should the situation at Birchwood Terrace worsen.

Stanley expressed concern and frustration over the level of security provided to the property after a motorcycle belonging to her partner was stolen from the parking lot last week.

Property managers had assured her it was safe to leave the motorcycle in the parking lot until the couple could retrieve it because it would be contained behind a locked fence and under 24/7 security.

A security officer told Stanley thieves had cut through the fence and removed the motorcycle. The criminals attempted to steal a second motorcycle the couple had parked on the property, but were unable to unlock the steering column and succeeded only in damaging the vehicle, she said.

“If they can get in there within the first week to steal a motorcycle, what’s to stop somebody from getting in there and looting all the apartments? I have no faith in that security at all.”

Stanley’s partner was able to file a police report for the stolen vehicle. The Winnipeg Police Service confirmed to the Free Press it received that report.

Police did not confirm whether there have been other thefts at the property since the evacuation.

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“It’s been, to sum it up, a surreal hell,” Stanley said of the last two weeks.

“How would you feel if someone came to your door and said, ‘Pack up what you can carry and get out of here,’” she said, fighting back tears.

“I never know if I will see my son’s ashes again, I never know if I will see my family photos again or stuff that my daughter made for me when she was two years old.”

Stanley hopes the governments will move to bolster legislation or city bylaws — whatever it takes to ensure this can’t happen again, she said.

tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca

Tyler Searle
Reporter

Tyler Searle is a multimedia producer who writes for the Free Press’s city desk. A graduate of Red River College Polytechnic’s creative communications program, he wrote for the Stonewall Teulon Tribune, Selkirk Record and Express Weekly News before joining the paper in 2022. Read more about Tyler.

Every piece of reporting Tyler produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.