Emergency demolition prompts lawsuits

The owners of a McDermot Avenue warehouse that was torn down last year under an emergency order from the city allege the building only began to crumble after a shoddy demolition job of an adjacent structure.

Lawyers for Clearwater Investments Inc. and 10004277 Manitoba Ltd. filed two lawsuits in the Court of King’s Bench last week over the emergency demolition of 579 McDermot Ave.

The building’s owners allege the five-storey warehouse — which they were converting into a 50-unit apartment before it began to crumble — needed to be torn down after the May 2023 demolition of 577 McDermot Ave. destabilized 579 McDermot Ave. in the ensuing months.

Bricks had fallen from the structure and cracks in the exterior walls had formed and worsened prior to the emergency demolition of the former Stobart Warehouse, built in 1910, last summer. Some residents of a neighbouring multi-unit home were forced to leave while the building appeared at risk of collapse in July.

In the first suit, the owners name ERI Homes Inc., which owned the adjacent 577 McDermot Ave., Bulldog Demolition and Excavation Inc., and the City of Winnipeg as defendants.

The owners allege 577 McDermot’s owner and the demolition company failed to backfill a large excavation hole after the demolition, causing significant damage to their building.

In a second court filing, the owners name the same defendants in the first suit, as well as Charleson Engineering Ltd., Eng-Tech Consulting Limited, Debrock Concrete Masonry and Ltd. and S & J Construction Ltd.

The additional defendants were subcontractors hired by the plaintiff to investigate and address structural issues with 579 McDermot before it had to be torn down.

The building’s owners seek $15 million in each suit, plus costs and interest. It was not immediately clear if the plaintiffs’ lawyers expect to consolidate the two lawsuits.

None of the defendants have responded to the lawsuits in statements of defence and the allegations have yet to be heard in court.

The court filings say 579 McDermot’s owners observed that the foundation of the building was failing and brickwork on the east side started showing signs of damage in June 2023, which they reported to the city.

“Due to a lack of soil stabilizing the foundation of the 579 building, the wall on the east side of the building continued to move,” the court filings claim.

“Additional distortions and damage were observed in the brick work on the east side of the building.”

579 McDermot’s owners then retained engineers to “safeguard and stabilize” the building and to advise about how to remediate the issues in November 2023, the filings say.

In May 2024, a contractor for 579 McDermot’s owners backfilled the hole left by the demolition of 577 McDermot, the court filings say, but by early July, the old warehouse’s condition continued to worsen.

In early July, the city issued an order to vacate 579 McDermot after an engineering assessment deemed it unsafe.

A demolition permit was issued July 11.

The warehouse was torn down in an emergency demolition initiated by the city later in July and through August. Provincial inspectors temporarily halted work due to asbestos concerns.

The lawsuits claim 579’s owners spent significant sums on emergency responses, remediation and debris removal, site security, and administrative and labour costs for which they should be granted damages.

The court filings accuse ERI Homes and Bulldog of breaching their duty to demolish 577 McDermot — a vacant house damaged by fire in 2021 — without damaging 579 McDermot, alleging the companies were negligent in how they went about the work.

The building’s owners accuse its subcontractors of failing to properly assess and remediate the damage to 579 McDermot as they had been hired to do.

The court filings accuse the City of Winnipeg of failing to ensure the demolition of 577 McDermot was properly completed, leading to the damage to 579 McDermot.

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca