By: Matt Weingarden, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Tilbury Times Reporter
The process to demolish two buildings at Queen Street, 47 Queen Street and 49 Queen Street has much consternation and concern among residents of Tilbury.
Enough so that residents met earlier this month with officials to demand some answers on the status of the demolition citing safety and mobility issues.
Building officials in Chatham-Kent say they are working with property owners and their insurance companies to rectify the situation.
The process to demolish two buildings on Queen Street, 47 Queen Street and 49 Queen Street, began last year according to Paul Lacina, the chief building official for the Municipality of Chatham-Kent.
In 2022, the Town deemed the building, which is privately owned, unsafe for occupation. An engineering report determined the building ‘safe,’ however it was discovered during early demolition that the two buildings shared supportive walls with the buildings on either side, 45 Queen Street and 55 Queen Street were damaged on at least one shared wall.
Demolition was halted and residents and businesses evacuated. The municipality helped with the relocating of the tenants to find them alternate housing in the area. About 15 people and two businesses were impacted, and those residents now live in Leamington, around Chatham-Kent and in Windsor.
The buildings were partially demolished in November 2023 and nothing much has been done since.
Lacina says they’re working with engineers, the owners of 55 and 45 Queen Street and the demolition company to resolve the situation as soon as possible.
Work has begun to shore up the outer walls of the buildings and the site has been cleaned up and fenced in to allow for safe passage across the sidewalk area.
But residents say it’s been over a year, with piles of debris and bricks remaining and the area fenced off. Many met at a meeting about the issue recently.
“It’s been almost a year and it’s an eyesore,” said Kathy Cottingham, a Tilbury resident and organizer of the meeting.
She said that at the meeting they learned about the danger it has caused to those with challenges or using assistance devices such as a cane or a scooter to manoeuvre through the area.
“We learned it has also presents another danger, as it is currently set up since children have been spotted playing in the rubble,” said Cottingham.”
Cottingham and others have also raised safety concerns with the fencing around the property blocking access to the sidewalk, which they say poses a challenge for residents with mobility issues.
“It is our intention to hold another meeting for those who could not attend and invite councillors. We also plan to be at meetings in other communities to share and listen to their issues,” she added.
Lacina suspects, based on the recommendations from the engineer’s reports, that it will last a month or two to get the repairs made in order to structurally make the with both buildings structurally sound.
“Rest assured that we are actively working to rectify the situation,” concluded Lacina.
