1st Moncton building torn down after quick eviction of tenants
After tip, fire marshal checked and gave tenants 24 hours to leave 3 buildings
One of three condemned buildings at Highfield and Gordon streets in Moncton was demolished Monday, just a few days after the tenants were given a day to get out.
About a dozen tenants were evicted last Friday after a tip to fire officials, who concluded the buildings were dangerous and not fit to live in.
The officials wouldn't say who tipped them off about the three buildings, which were recently bought by Ashford Investments, a company across the street was going to demolish the buildings anyway.
On Monday, the Moncton Fire Department said the 24-hour notice from the fire marshal followed earlier eviction notices.
Evicted resident George Randall took a cab with his few belongings to Moncton's Nazareth House shelter. That's where he'll stay over the holidays.
"It's my only option," said Randall, 70, who confirmed the earlier eviction notices but thought residents had until the end of the month.
He was glad to see the condemned building torn down. His room didn't even have a bed.
"I slept on a sleeping bag on top with two pillows underneath it."
He said he sometimes felt unsafe in the building. Three weeks ago, the lock on his door was broken by a fellow resident, and there were "interesting characters" living downstairs.
While happy to be out, Randall said it was never made clear to tenants why they had to leave, and the eviction could have been handled better, he said.
"Rush, rush, rush," he said as he walked out with with three bags, mostly of clothes.
"I don't believe it is fully justified the way they did it."
Randall said he's looking for a small or bachelor apartment, but it's difficult to find something he can afford. He hopes to have somewhere to live by the end of December.
Safety concerns
A spokesperson for Ashford Investments said it was always the company's intention to demolish the buildings for new development.
Patrick Gillespie said the company bought the properties just over a month ago in a tax sale for nearly $500,000 for new development.
The company hopes to build a commercial property on the site with residential space on top.
"The agreement of purchase and sale called for the existing owner to give notice to everyone and that, you know, they would be vacant so that when we did buy them we could tear them down," he said.
He said Ashford is not in the residential business and did not know the conditions of the buildings it was buying.
Gillespie said tenants could no longer live in the spaces because of safety concerns.
He said there were structural issues and water had leaked for a number of years.
The previous owner provided an affidavit that there were seven or eight tenants in the three buildings.
Says several notices sent out
He said the previous owner sent eviction notices around the end of October.
When the sale went through in mid-November, Ashford gave residents a change of ownership notice, and additional eviction notices at the end of November.
"Everyone was suppose to be gone and then nobody left. In fact, more people showed up.
"Last count, the fire marshal suggested 20 to 25 people, folks would be dropping in and it became a place where folks could stay when they didn't have anywhere else to stay," he said.
Gillespie said Ashford Investments did not receive rent payments for the properties for November and December, so it also sent notices for non-payment of rent.
Reason for eviction
Charles LeBlanc, division chief of fire prevention at the Moncton Fire Department, said the tenants were evicted because of a fire marshal order.
After several notices were sent to the people living in the building, LeBlanc said, "tenants of three condemned building properties in downtown Moncton were officially retired from their homes on Friday with 24-hour notice."
He said tenants were offered the chance to go to Moncton shelters and were allowed to drop by and retrieve additional belongings over the weekend.
Demolition pleases neighbour
All the properties will be demolished over the next few days.
Scott Haddlie, a resident of the area for 15 years, said the demolition is going to be a big improvement for downtown Moncton.
"It was just one big party corner, people would hang out there and party and drink all the time," he said. "The … landlords didn't give a crap about the people that live in there. They didn't bother fixing them up, repairing them, and [they] slowly went downhill."
Haddlie hopes new development will "elevate" the downtown and open up more businesses.
"It's nice to see the buildings go."
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With files from Tori Weldon