Neighbours forced out as bricks fall from five-storey building By: Tyler Searle Posted: 6:09 PM CDT Thursday, Jul. 11, 2024 Last Modified: 6:29 PM CDT Thursday, Jul. 11, 2024 Updates

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People who live near a vacant crumbling warehouse on McDermot Avenue have been forced to evacuate as the exterior walls shed bricks and sag, placing the property at risk of collapsing.

The City of Winnipeg said it issued an order to vacate the five-storey building at 579 McDermot Ave., and a neighbouring multi-unit home, last week after an engineering assessment confirmed the building was unsafe.

“In the mornings, I go walking out there and I check it out and it keeps getting worse,” said Paul McCartan, a school teacher who lives a few doors down.

“Hopefully, they do something before it falls because it’s going to hurt people.”

McCartan said he has watched bricks fall from the structure and cracks in the exterior walls have worsened in recent weeks.

He demanded the property owners or city officials step in to protect nearby residents.

“I am scared, too. Honest to God,” McCartan said. “They need to do something about that.”

Large concrete blocks placed against the building’s eastern wall to support it have started to sink into the ground.

A woman who lives in a nearby apartment block said she has seen water pour through cracks in the building’s south-facing walls when it rains.

The woman, who asked not to be named, believes the people living in the evacuated house have been relocated to a hotel.

Nobody was living in the warehouse, which was slated for construction. City permits show the building, formerly home to the Western Paper Box Co. and Zenith Printing, was being converted into a 50-unit apartment block.

The city has ordered the property owners to address the unsafe condition but was unable to confirm when or whether the property will be destroyed, spokesperson Kalen Qually said.

“You would need to contact the property owner for comment on whether they plan to proceed with a demolition in response to the city’s order to address the building’s condition,” Qually said.

Tax records list three registered owners — one individual and two businesses. The Free Press was unable to reach them for comment.

In the interim, the perimeter of the property has been cordoned off by metal fencing. A section of the fence in an alleyway behind the building was unsecured Thursday, but a security guard kept watch from a nearby car.

The warehouse renovations were set to include new walls, doors and windows. Upgrades to the plumbing, electrical, ventilation and fire-suppression systems were also underway, records show.

The most recent permits were issued in May, while the earliest date back to April 2023.

Tax records show the building was transferred to the new owners in 2021.

City staff have contacted the Winnipeg School Division regarding any risk to École Sacré-Coeur School, at809 Furby St., which neighbours the crumbling warehouse to the west, Qually said.

Division superintendent Matt Henderson said he learned about the issue Tuesday.

Summer programs slated to take place at the French elementary school were relocated to nearby Pinkham School, Henderson said.

Coun. Sherri Rollins, who chairs the city’s property and development committee, said she is aware of the situation.

“Every week, this type of file is on my desk where (the city) has had to move with an order to vacate or we’ve had to move with fencing because a building is not safe,” Rollins said.

“I think it’s really important to make sure that we are securing buildings, that we are working really closely and that building owners are doing preventative work.”

Large commercial and residential properties that become derelict are of particular concern because demolishing them can sometimes require entire streets to temporarily close, she said.

“I’ve been down this road before as chair, it’s not ideal.”

Rollins pointed to efforts at city hall to crack down on property enforcement, including motions to introduce stricter requirements for owners to secure vacant buildings.

A spokesperson from the provincial government said the city is responsible for enforcing violations of the Manitoba Building Act that occur in Winnipeg.

tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca