Demolition of long-vacant Kitchener buildings begins
KITCHENER – Two derelict buildings that have been vacant for more than a decade are being demolished in a Kitchener neighborhood.
The demolition began on Monday and is expected to last all week, said Gloria MacNeil, Kitchener’s director of statutes enforcement.
Kitchener ordered the buildings to be demolished in January after a city-commissioned engineering report found they weren’t worth repairing.
Neighbors in the Central Frederick district have been complaining for years about the neglected condition of the brick buildings that stand next to each other on the corner of Samuelstrasse and Brubacherstrasse.
The demolition, which includes land grading and re-greening, will cost $ 43,900, MacNeil said. These costs will be billed to the property owner. If not paid, the cost will be added to the property tax bill.
The changes to the city’s property standards ordinance made in 2017 require that vacant properties be maintained and kept in the condition required for all properties in the neighborhood. The owner’s lack of response to municipal orders to repair the roof, foundation and masonry resulted in demolition.
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