By Tyler Marr

‘End goal of demolishing’ says Mayor on downtown building

Oct 10, 2017 | 9:36 PM

A downtown property said to cause headaches for surrounding businesses is now in the cross-hairs of city hall.

With “an end goal of demolishing the building,” Mayor Greg Dionne made a motion during Tuesday’s city council meeting to begin dealing with 925 Central Ave.

“This property, as council is aware of, has been a sore point in the downtown for many years,” Dionne said.

Dionne called for all police and bylaw files on the property to be sent to the City Solicitor. To date, he said, 205 police and bylaw calls have been made to the building. These numbers, Dionne said, did not include the three or four times a week foot patrol officers go through the building.

A number of meetings between area neighbours and high-level city and police officials have not yielded results, according to Dionne.

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“In the last year… it has really got worse,” he said. “It is time we take affirmative action….Nobody even wants to look at the building.”

The motion passed with only Coun. Terra Lennox-Zepp opposed.

Dionne said the process could be lengthy, making reference to the nearly decade-long battle the city endured to remove the Minto Apartments in 2014. The apartments were known to area residents as “The Snake Pit” and were a hot spot for drug activity and violence.

“The day we started action with our lawyer, there was nobody allowed in the building. It instantly made an improvement in the neighbourhood,” he added, hinting a desire for this at 925 Central.

tyler.marr@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @JournoMarr