A while back Urbanrat sent me some photos of the slums at 501 Erie St. W.
He wrote:
A very concerned resident of the area bounded by Erie Street west, between Bruce Ave and Janette Ave, is very upset about this derelict property at 501 – 529 Erie Street West, a row of townhouses.
This citizen and other residents are very concerned about the state of the building, especially the back wall of some units. They have called the city, their councillors Jones and Postma to have some action taken towards the property, many a time!
The owner has it listed for a rental property but refuses to repair or demolish the building (thus losing revenue tax credit).
There has been reports of squatters, kids et al entering the building at night under the tarps, with neighbours seeing candles or flashlights on in the rooms.
He sent along the following photos:
When I got to this photo he took, of the City Issued order, I stopped, because the order was AN ORDER TO DEMOLISH THE BUILDING AND CLEAR THE SITE ON OR BEFORE AUGUST 1, 2008.
Seeing as it’s now October 3, I thought, I better make sure the place isn’t gone before I post these photos… So yesterday afternoon, I cruised on over to 501 Erie St. W.
Guess what?
The mess is still there… Unbelievable. For the amount of money we spend in taxes living in this city, someone should be embarrassed that this mess is still standing 63 days AFTER the deadline to demolish it. However, I guess if it’s not something sexy like a canal or a big new shiny arena, then it’s not high on the list of priorities for the City to deal with?
Where are Councillors Jones and Postma? Obviously, this isn’t in Sandwich, so Ron Jones will have no interest in looking after it… But where’s Postma? This is kind of her neighbourhood? Too busy with her own burned out rental properties? Nothing like looking after the people who elected you. What a mess Ward 2 is. 2010 isn’t coming quick enough.
Here are a few photos from yesterday afternoon.
I was blown, away to drive over there and to find this place still standing. Is it standard practice for a building to be standing a full two months after the deadline to demolish has passed? This place is a danger to the surrounding community.
Broken, boarded up windows…
Bricks falling off the back of the building… Yeah. I’m sure the neighbours feel much safer with that tarp in place.
The screen door is missing off one of the entrances, the window is missing from the one next to it…
Overgrowing plants, and yellowing, mouldering mail from who knows when in the mail boxes.
There’s that same order.
Based on the extent and nature of the defects the owner shall demolish this structure in its entirety and leave the site in a clear and level manner.
…
YOU ARE HEREBY REQUIRED, by this Order, to do the work required to repair the defects set forth in this Order and make the said property conform to the standards set forth in the said By-law ON OR BEFORE: AUGUST 1st, 2008
Click here to download a legible copy of the order.
Looking at the owner’s name it is listed as:
Philip Katz
c/o Walter Muroff
333 Riverside Dr. W.
Suite 218
Windsor, ON
N9A 7C5
A quick google turns up nothing on Katz, but Walter Muroff is a mortgage broker… http://www.waltermuroff.yp.ca/index.htm. But, oh look at this… http://www.fstontario.ca/english/decisions/mortgagebroker/M0280-2006-1.pdf… It just happens to be a a copy of the hearing of the Financial Services Tribunal against Walter Muroff & Co., Ltd.
Muroff was nailed for not filing his financial statements in a timely manner, for 2001, 2002, 2003 & 2004, and had his registration suspended for nine months.
Talk about bad judgement! Either Larry Horwitz:
- a. fielded a call from a slumlord who asked him to put some signs on the lawn of his dilapidated crap palace.
or
- b. has volunteers who decided to put some signs down on private property without the owners permission… Tsk. Tsk.
or
- c. maybe he’s just comfortable with vacant buildings, since that’s what a lot of downtown looks like.
Maybe Larry should call his “team” to go remove those signs. Probably not the best building to associate with.
So the ball is in your court City of Windsor… Why is this dangerous eyesore still standing? Ward 2 residents, call or email your councillor to ask why this building is still standing in direct violation of a City issued order.
Maybe A-Channel, CBC or the Windsor Star could pick up this story and run with it. If any readers have any contacts in the media, feel free to tip them off.
Thanks for bringing this to my attention Urbanrat. Hopefully, the readers of this blog can help get some action taken on this issue.
Thanks for bringing attention to that dump. It’s been like that for close to 10 years. A few of us gave up trying to get anything done about it along time ago due to a lack of response from anyone at city hall. That building is unsafe and a stain on an otherwise decent neighbourhood in which to live.
Why would residents worry about falling bricks when there’s that red sign that says “Danger” to protect them all? 😛
This sucks and I can’t believe that when it comes to demolishing something of value they do it about 1 second after they get the okay; but if it’s something that could be a crack den, then let’s just leave it so the neighbourhood families can enjoy their area even more.
I have said it before. It is indicative of this city’s administration, the mayor and council. NOTHING gets done in Windsor unless it is an idea of an elected official or if one of the higher ups in administration needs a favour.
Take look at some of the burned out houses in Windsor. Some have been that way for more than 2 years! Two frigg’in years!
I didn’t realize that the Sandwich development freeze Bylaw extended throughout Ward 2 you wouldn’t that it was for only a few square km’s by the look of Ward 2. How shameful!
I know Eddie had a good relationship with KK and likes Ken Cockrel from Detroit but that doesn’t mean we have to emulate Detroit. It is really sad to me to see that we are following the example of Detroit in a few ways.
1) The hollowing out of our city core as we keep building suburbs.
2) The idea that Windsor is hard to deal with when it comes to business (same has been said of Detroit)
3) The knocking down of historic buildings while burned out houses remain in the neighbourhoods.
4) And us (elected offical) against them( taxpayer) mentality. Or rather we (elected official) know best mentality.
I would have thought Windsor would be trying to follow Detroit’s lead by investing heavily in downtown (which Detroit has been doing for 10 years to great success). Investing and listening to neighbourhood champions in areas such as Corktown, Brush Park, Indian Village, Woodbridge, condos on Woodward….
But we all know city hall knows best…In the summer you can smell the mould and urine in that place as you drive by. It is absolutely disgusting.
Am I missing something here? From the front, it looks ok for this area of “downtown”. It looks like it’s in way better shape than that stucco’d duplex with the boarded up window on Bruce from a few days ago or the fire bombed house right across the street from it. That’s more of a hazard than anything. In fact, there’s dozens of boarded up fire bombed houses that remain sitting around that area for years. At least, the guy didn’t stucco or side it with vinyl, which would probably take care of that falling brick problem since the guy is too lazy to repoint (like most downtown homeowners).
But seriously, aside from it needing the back repointed and a few boarded up windows, what’s wrong with it? Is it fire damaged from the inside and beyond repair? Is the foundation unstable? Is it just the unit at the corner that needs to be severed and demolished from the rest of the complex? In comparison to a lot of other buildings in that area. it doesn’t look like it needs to be demolished. Is there some additional informaton I’m missing here? Maybe I am. Please fill in the missing details. Yes, it does look a little bit messy and I would never let my place look like that, especially with boarded windows. But If this is all a building needs to get a demolition order from the city, the city should send demolition orders out to demolish half of downtown ‘cuz that looks like nothing compared to the rest of downtown.
What about the houses in Sandwich on Indian Rd just sitting there boarded up? What about Hotel Grace, which has been boarded up for how many years or that atrocious siding from the side of the Radison Hotel on Riverside Dr next to the filled up Doherty’s hole? Why was’t the siding job finished? That’s just atrocious. That’s a way more heavily travelled road an a real embarrassment as that’s what the tourists see. Why isn’t anything happening with that?
For the same reason nothing is being done on this building…incompetence or just plain ignorance of our neighbourhoods.
By the way that building is structurally unsound that is why it is being demolished.
Please explain why this buiding is structurally unsound? I’m not criticizng or anything. I just want all the information. Thanks.
David, if you had clicked the link in the post: http://internationalmetropolis.com/images/2008//order.pdf for a close up of the order, you’ll see the reasons why listed by the building inspector, under the Defects section.
If the slumlord had cared about this building it would have been repaired years ago.
I say level it, and asses the charge on his taxes. If he doesn’t pay, seize the property.
Wow, curiousity got the best of me and I just came from there and had looked through the curtain gaps in the main floor bay windows. There’s more to it than meets the eye from the above pictures. The pictures you posted don’t do it justice. The corner unit had holes in the ceilings on the main floor from water penetration. Some of them in the middle looked ok. I can’t believe that that idiot let the gutters fall off the corner units to let allow that water damage. It’s certainly not liveable.
BUT, it is fixable from what I saw. I’ve seen people renovate fire damaged properties that looked a lot worse.
But, it’s probably not worth renovating in this market and location. You’re right. It’s probably best for the city to level it. I don’t know why he didn’t try to sell it years ago since it was vacant anyway. More density lost. Another building with a brick facade in this city gone. Damn shame.
I tried taking pictures of the inside from the outside but the glass kept bouncing the flash! You should all take a walk through the allies of downtown Windsor and the amount of garbage that is being dumped behind those derelict buildings!
there are some pretty cool/ancient garages in all those allies of that neighbourhood. some that you, quite clearly, could never fit a modern car in….i’m not sure if something from even the 30’s could fit. maybe a “smart” car, but that’s it.
i don’t imagine anyone would reclaim those bricks, eh?
that tarp should flap around nicely from the radiant heat when someone finally sets it a blaze.
ahh yes, and, in turn it will make a wonderful bridge for the fire when it gets stuck to that houses vinyl siding. good luck neighbouring home!
I did try to call 311 earlier but it was difficult to get through. We should all call on Monday and ask why this order is not being followed.
(Gentlemen, With all due respect it is alleys not allies)
lol….that’s how i was gonna spell it, but i wasn’t sure so i followed my elder and look where it lands me!
i live fairly close to there. i’ve been thinking about going inside to take some pictures. i’m a photographer. has anyone been inside? how safe is it? i’m not going to step on some junkies needle am i?
Not unless you go inside, then you should wear junkie proof galoshes
After years of water penetration (as mentioned on the notice) I’d be concerned also about all those mould spores entering your respiratory tract. If you do run into any characters squatting in there, I’m sure they won’t make you a pot of coffee either. 😉
I looked through those big bay windows and didn’t see any junkies. I wouldn’t be worried about that. This isn’t Detroit. You need a lot longer term exposure to the small volume of mold and asbestos than 5-10 minutes for it to have any effect on you. If that were the case, then the police would be required to wear a mask every time a neighbour called that someone walked into the building and they went inside to arrest them.
5-10 minute exposure for mold i’ll agree with, but not asbestos. when it comes to exposure of anything toxic to your body, the difference between 5 and 10 minutes is critical and in most cases the difference between life and death. chances are that place is lined with the stuff, and since you guys say there’s water damage the asbestos has probly been carried out of the ceiling and walls to the floor where you’re going to go ahead and kick it all up….then breath it in. apparently, you may not show any symptoms for anywhere from 10 – 40 years. remember that mould is more like an infection you can kill, it’s alive. i don’t think there’s anything out there that kills a bunch of chemical fibers that slowly destroy your lungs and give you cancer.
with that being said, go have fun but please wear a mask. even one of them simple painters masks will give you protection….but it’s not ideal for asbestos. and be careful on the second level, who knows how long this water damage has been going on.
oh yeah….and plan on throwing all your clothes away that you wear to take these pictures before you even get home. if there is asbestos, it’ll be all over your clothes that you’ll wear in the house, sit on the couch, put in the wash, etc, etc……..
oh…shoes too. at least wash them outside real good.
do you see where i’m going with this? lol
Fortunately this is one area of ignorance and risk taking where the only victim is one’s self. So I’ll gladly concede with David on all his points but will govern myself accordingly just the same. 😉
yeah……that was the HAZMAT part of me talking lol. in all reality, 5 minutes for a couple pics in that place, and a painters mask would be good for me. i just felt the need to give a warning should someone get really dusty/dirty in there….you may want to chuck everything.
….sounds like you’ve made some urban exploration plans john 🙂
one more thing i thought might fit here:
did anyone see on the news anything about Ottawa concidering LICENSING their landlords?!?!?!?
what a fantastic idea!!!! i mean….just cause you have a drivers license doesn’t force you follow the rules of the road, but if you get caught……….
sounds like a niffty deterent to these kinds of situations or like i just went thru at my old place. what happened you ask? well my bedroom ceiling caved in because of a leaky roof i had let her know about since march! then tells me it’s not important?!?!?
yeah, i’m for landlord licensing.
I live directly across the street on Bruce. My husband and I often see candle-light and flash lights being used especially in the corner unit closest to Bruce on the second floor. I know the person who lives in the vinyl sided house behind the building. She has on many occassions ans I have once seen people crawling out from under the tarp on the back in the middle of the night. I have called the building inspector several times as well as the councillors. The last 2 times the inspectors came out they said there was evidence that there had been people in there. Thank you very much, by the way, for printing this. I heard you were going to do it and was delighted to hear it.
There could easily be some Trespassing fines handed out for those that “hangout” in this abandoned building. There could also be additional charges laid for possesion of drugs (there has to be), etc. It seems the place is a fire hazard for the visitors in it, with the candles being used, and for those who live next door. IMO, don’t call the city departments when you see someone who isn’t supposed to be inside, call the police (519) 258-6111.
Well those would be the “squatters” I was also a bit worried about, L.S. They can be fiercely protective of the vacant building they been calling home. Can’t believe you guys have had to put up with this as long as you have. I thought this stuff only happened on Indian road. LOL. And Aaron, nah… no plans on exploring it. Urbanrat got about as close as I’d elect to. Everyone has a different comfort level about abandonments like this. Make ya a deal though, I’ll bring the coffee and spot ya! heh.
Not sure if anyone said this yet, but it is amazing to me how an empty and disgusting structur can sit 2 months pasts the order to demo…but our heritage buidlings seem to hit the gorund before the paper work even gets close to a permit to demo……wow…odd how the system works isn’t it?
HA! ….welllllll…..no, no i can’t. you know the lure of coffee runs deep in my veins, but i can’t. lol
sammy, you should get a new keyboard. i think yours is missing some keys LOL!!!
you’re right though…except the permits for demoing heritage properties. we don’t need permits for that kind of stuff. and orders to demo structures seem to keep them up.
hmmmmmm…..maybe we’re actually in the bizzaro version of windsor.
quick everyone! lets run downtown and slap these orders all over whatever we have left to save before it’s too late!!!!!!!
and just so noone thinks i’m being mean to sammy….well i was, but he’s my brother lol
L.S now you know who not to vote for in the next election. If the city doesn’t tear down abandoned houses that are burnt out shells what makes us all think they will tear that structure down?
Just wait until the kids that go in there start a fire and one gets trapped and burns to death. how much do you want to bet the city gets sued big time?
Hey, I am all for licensing landlords as well but Widnsor just doesn’t have the fortitude to do it.
i thought asbestos took years of exposure to do any damage. like smoking
commiejay – i’d imagine the more/longer your exposed the worse you are, but even being exposed once technically is enough. i guess a couple studies have shown that even the families of rescuers from the WTC have been exposed and now have health issues related to asbestos, just from their husband/wife coming home each night from the scene. granted, they were covered in the stuff. but i’m sure they were all required to toss their coveralls and take showers before leaving the site, and still…….
i know that’s a huge gap in exposer, going in to take some pics of a run down apartment vs. crawling around the rubble of the WTC for days. but like i said up there, even a little bit can get into your lungs. the fibers attatch themselves to the lung lining, eventually causing abnomalities, and cause all kinds of damage over a very long period of time.
Yup. Time x Intensity – you remember that one right, Aaron?
Aaron, if you’re so concerned about your health, maybe you should move out of Windsor since Environment Canada ranks our air quality and the Detroit River as one of the most polluted in the country. Pollutants from Zug Island and other places can cause cancer and health problems. Lots of things in this city can. Yet, my lung are fine and I don’t see a third arm growing out of my chest.
Even fresh water can kill you if you drink too much of it. It’s all about the amount of exposure of it to your body and for most people there needs to be lots. Not that Canada mining half a billion tonnes of Asbestos a year for export to India and China should in any way suggest that such miniscule amounts of asbestos would have any significance in the grand scheme of things.
david, where the hell did i express a concern for my health? all i was suggesting was commiejay take some precautions. it’s asbestos david, not cardboard. yes, the more your exposed to it, the worst you are…like i just said, just like most stuff. BUT breathing it in once, one time will probly get fibers stuck in your lungs (or just the one in your case). maybe they kill you, maybe they don’t, maybe they just do it real slow and you have no idea. it’s practically there forever, scarring your lungs, causing swelling and irritation which can turn into sores which can then fester into cancer. are you more at risk if you make brake pads? hell yes. if you make brake pads and your wife and kids don’t are they at a greater risk? hell yes.
it’s bad stuff, no matter how you cut it. i know there are plenty of things in this city that can and probly will give me cancer. for example: everyone here on IM is at a greater risk of developing brain tumors from reading you mindless anti-everything-on-the-planet campaigne day in and day out.
granted, i do suppose my 8 years of being on a HAZMAT and confined space rescue team has taught me nothing about chemicals and exposure levels. so i’ll just bite my tounge on subject and wait for mondays post. i really really thought this might be the one post where you didn’t insist on being a complete tool, but i guess that’s strike two for me on this post.
you are simply unbelievable.
Note to self: don’t talk to people blowng things completely out of proportion or you’ll get called “mindless” and a “complete tool.” What a very intelligent response, Aaron. You are soooo smart and everybody else is plain stupid. That’s why you have to name call because your arguments are so well thought out–that’ll convince the readers. Yep, you’re quite the persuader.
thanks for the compliment david, but that’s not completly true. i don’t think anyone one here is stupid….. suprisingly, not even you.
but i do have another name for you: hypocrite
harsh word, i know….but ……….
“Paul, you are the biggest brainwashed retard I’ve ever met. Go back to kindergarten and get your diploma”
or if that’s not jogging your memory, how about:
“Just keep doing what you’re doing and judgment will come and you’ll be knocked off your arrogant pedestal soon enough. Then, you’ll be wondering why you can’t find another high paying job like you’ve got now. You’ll destroy yourself and then we’ll see who has the last laugh, jackas-s.”
still nothing? maybe:
“Oh,and the owner wouldn’t have gotten away with it if there wasn’t a union, Paul, because what he was doing was ILLEGAL. But, I guess you’re too stupid to understand that.”
don’t you remember writting all this stuff david? these are direct quotes of yours, in one post.
am i wrong? is hypocrite the wrong word? i suppose had i attended kindergarden a little more often instead of skipping out all the time, i would have gotten that diploma and would know exactly what word to use.
i am seriously done with this now.
sorry andrew, i truly am. but it was either respond of pull the skin off my own face. 😉
jesus i didn’t mean to start a fight.
i’ve probably had exposure to it before. recently actually. there was a house next door to mine (Dougall and Erie) demolished and there’s a good chance it had asbestos
I am the biggest brainwashed retard! lol how about you david you queer.you are such a jealous moron about unions.YOU BRING up unions in posts that have nothing to do with them like the old railway now you are attacking people on here wow YOU ARE A LOWLIFE HOW ABOUT YOU GO BACK TO KINDERGARTEN YOU TARD!!! In kindergarten they teach you about respect others.something you david never learned because you were too stupid back then
aaron is right david you are nothing but a hypocrite who starts bashing people if they dont agree with you
This is the last time i am going to respond to you david first the railway you bring up unions which had nothing to do with the article then this apartment building you start attacking aaron for no reason because you dont agree with him. if you have nothing to good to say then dont say anything at all. I am done argueing with you david
me and my damn mouth (fingers)
commiejay….not your fault. it’s my fault. erie and dougal? what got demolished there???
according to OSHA damn near everyone has been exposed at somepoint in their life. but that’s just what’s floating around in general. i was just pointing out the dangers…i think you should be ok, just be on the safeside and wear a mask. couldn’t hurt anymore than…..asbestos in your lungs lol
paul……i’m sorry i brought that up man. i thought you had already read it. thanks for the defense though!
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE though guys….no more. i feel bad enough that this got this far and i let it happen when i could have ignored him. that’s just…not my style though lol
case closed? sweet. 🙂
C’mon guys… let’s be fair to Andrew and get back to the topic. This derelict house issue is obviously very important to him, the person who submitted the photos, and a lot of other people lobbying for a better downtown. We won’t make any headway on the matter fighting each other about unions again… and asbestos exports to China and what not!
i know john, that’s why i feel so damn bad. this wasn’t supposed to happen at all!
oh….i guess you were typing when i was posting lol
is there no way for this to really be restored? that’s a real big plot to sit empty and i can’t really see anything else going up there. i suppose you could fit 3 or 4 homes there though, eh?
On the matter of restoration, I believe this bulding has gone past that “point of no return” – at least in terms of how much it would cost to restore vs its actual value on the real estate market. Perhaps if proper maintenance had been performed when it was needed, it will still be a nice rowhouse to live in downtown and contribute to density.
agreed. that panoramic shot really makes it look like it was a nice place to live back in the day. not horrible sizes either, nice brickwork.
i think it would be cool if someone replicated that place
Well there’s a similar type block of townhouses of similar vintage on Logan just west of Howard (right next to Brian’s footwear). I haven’t compared them tit-for-tat but from the pics here they look basically the same age and vintage. Maybe a little bit older?
hmm….looking at it on google earth looks like a different (peaked)roof. i’m assuming this one here is a flat top? does seem like the same type of building tho don’t it? i think logan might be older
The police had been called a few times and they say they’ll look into it but have only seen them actually get out of the patrol car once, do a quick check around with flashlights and get back in the car. Another time I was told they will increase the patrol in the area, which they did noticeably, but that didn’t help much as what can you see from the front of the building in the 2 seconds it takes to drive by?
Once, over 20 ys ago(giving away my ageLOL), I moved into this duplex downtown. In the basement I found a small paper bag tucked in the rafters about the size of a lunch sac. It was marked asbestos with a marker and was full of powder. I called the Fire Dept(there was no 311 at the time) and they would not come and remove the bag. They said for me to just double bag it in a plastic bag and throw it in the garbage. I ended up having my brother come and remove it cuz I was too scared to handle it.
Paul and Aaron, the two of you, get a life. You can’t just rehash stuff from how many threads ago?? Aaron, I never attacked you personally in this thread. I just suggesteded you’re blowing things out of proportion and you attacked me. I wasn’t the only person who suggested that BTW, so that’s uncalled for.
Paul, you need professional help. Seriously. What does this thread have to do with unions? I didn’t attack Aaron. Attacking is name calling and I didn’t do that in this thread. So, how does that give you the right to do that to me in this thread? Andrew already said to cut it out and you do that to me here? Check yourself and go seek professional help, man.
that’s what siblings are for L.S. LOL
i bet you were hoping to find something cool in that bag huh? lol did the fire department just consider it a waste of their time, or were they scared too? i guess they wouldn’t tell you that.
with the police, something like this situation should be handled by auxilary officers. basiclly doing security guard work on the whole block…on the beat, if you will. stopping by the building each round and looking for changes in the area.
alright david, you win.
just in the future, don’t begin paragraphs with my name or i just might inturpret that as a comment specifically directed towards me. it’s a silly way of thinking, i know.
now please, drop this.