Owner questions logic of Vulcan demolition

The owner of the former Vulcan Iron Works site in Point Douglas is suing the City of Winnipeg and a demolition company, claiming structures on the property were demolished in error after a massive fire two years ago.

Gateway Industries claims the city and Imrie Demolition overcharged for the emergency demolition, which it says was unnecessary and prevented some buildings from being repaired.

The legal claim stems from a blaze on July 4, 2023, which ignited chemicals, caused explosions and forced the temporary evacuation of nearby residents before the city ordered destruction of portions of the property, at 120-150 Sutherland Ave.

It is the latest development in a challenging saga for the historic industrial site, which was largely reduced to rubble and has had dozens of fires, break-ins and thefts for more than a decade — including as recently as May.

“The unnecessary demolition of repairable parts of the buildings… was done with a view of ensuring those parts of the buildings were not repairable with the result that additional demolition after the July 4, 2023 fire would likely be ordered by the city,” says the lawsuit, which was filed July 2.

“The plaintiff says Imrie proceeded with unnecessary demolition with the goal of securing more demolition work from the city.”

The statement of claim says representatives of Imrie and an unnamed demolition company went to the property on the day of the blaze and spent more than 12 hours tearing down steel beams and brick walls.

Two months later, Gateway was handed invoices that totalled more than $40,000.

Gateway paid the bills “under protest” and now alleges there was no need for both companies to arrive on site because an emergency demolition was not required, and even if it were, one company could have completed the job, it says.

“In carrying out demolition activities… unnecessary equipment was brought to, and the service provider stayed at the property for an unnecessary amount of time,” the lawsuit says.

“The city or Imrie, or both, attempted to fully demolish repairable buildings, including fire walls and structural walls, when it was not necessary.”

The lawsuit alleges the city double-charged it to install security fencing around the property to keep out squatters.

City police failed to provide adequate support after the fire by responding to just six of 38 reports of active break-ins and thefts over a seven-month span, the lawsuit says.

“The result was that there were repeated fires, repeated cutting of the perimeter fence… without any apparent concern by those arsonists and thieves that they would be caught.”

After a fire in September 2023, the city again tried to contract Imrie for an emergency demolition, but the property owner intervened. The city ordered Gateway to remove the rubble and remaining structures and clean up the site, the lawsuit says.

Gateway appealed the order and notified the city about its intention to repair a building on site, it says.

Sheldon Blank, who owns Gateway, has told the Free Press he intended to salvage a building that remained standing on the east side of the property.

Gateway began removing the rubble and a steel superstructure last May, but the province swiftly halted that work over concerns about asbestos. A provincial stop-work order was lifted later that month.

The removal of the material was particularly expensive because “the disposal of the masonry needed to be carried out in a special manner,” the lawsuit says.

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Removing asbestos requires workers to conduct a wet demolition.

Gateway seeks an undetermined amount in damages, claiming the emergency demolition caused it to bear unnecessary costs and demolish buildings that could have been repaired.

A city spokesperson declined to comment on the lawsuit, as did the lawyer for Gateway Industries.

Neither Imrie Demolition nor Blank responded to requests for comment.

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.