On not leaving buildings empty
Interesting Le Devoir piece on how not to leave buildings empty needlessly. Vacant buildings inevitably deteriorate, leading to decrepitude and ruin – the house that collapsed this week on Van Horne is a small but telling example. Marco Fortier has a look at what’s been happening in the old Voyageur terminus, and he also points out that European cities have been more tolerant of “transitional occupation” than we are here.
Ian 19:18 on 2024-02-11 Permalink
Here’s a shot I took of the Van Horne collapse. Street is still blocked off.
https://pixelfed.social/i/web/post/662416495827701969
Kate 20:56 on 2024-02-11 Permalink
Good photo – thanks, Ian.
Isn’t the owner supposed to deal with the debris, and as quickly as possible? Or will the city cart it away and send them a bill?
That house next door to the collapse doesn’t look too solid either.
Ian 13:30 on 2024-02-12 Permalink
Yeah all those big beams propping it up are new, but it’s just a facade too.
DeWolf 13:48 on 2024-02-12 Permalink
Only the façades of the two buildings remained, and if you walked in the back alley you could see they were barely propped by by some wood frames. Swimko owns the property and has approval to build a six-storey apartment building that incorporates the existing façades, but the development has been delayed for years:
https://forum.agoramtl.com/t/outrelux-1100-1128-van-horne-6-etages/2242
Maybe they were just waiting for the façades to conveniently collapse.
Ian 14:38 on 2024-02-12 Permalink
Swimko are behind a lot of developments in the area, and yes, those facades have been exposed to the weather for over a year.
Hopefully the ground-up condo project they have the next block over is being built to code, but I have my doubts.