Montreal Building Set for Demolition After Years of Neglect
A dilapidated building on Parc Ave. has become the center of a long-standing controversy, with its deteriorating structure and risk of collapse leading to the evacuation of three apartment buildings over the past three months. The Plateau-Mont-Royal borough has now announced that the vacant building will be demolished within weeks, marking a significant step in a saga that has spanned years.
Mayor Luc Rabouin, who is running as a Projet Montréal candidate for mayor of Montreal, made the announcement at a borough council meeting. He stated that an engineering report outlining the demolition plans would be available by Friday, after which emergency measures would be enacted to expedite the process. Notably, the city will not issue a call for tenders to choose a contractor, allowing for a faster response due to the urgent nature of the situation.
This development comes after years of frustration from both tenants and property owners. Over 70 residents have been displaced from their homes, some of whom had just signed one-year leases before being forced to move out. Rabouin assured tenants that they should be able to return to their homes by early August at the latest.
The crisis escalated when the Montreal fire department ordered two buildings adjacent to the condemned structure at 5990 Parc Ave. to be vacated after reports of bricks falling from the building. Guy Lapointe, communications division chief for the fire department, expressed concerns about the potential for the building to collapse and cause damage to neighboring structures or harm to nearby residents.
The situation reached a critical point on March 17 when the southern wall of the building collapsed, sending bricks tumbling onto the apartment complex at 5998-6000 Parc Ave. One of the bricks crashed through Mikaela Germani’s living room window, narrowly missing her. Firefighters told her she could have been killed. Since then, the evacuated tenants have not been allowed to return, with many breaking their leases and moving elsewhere.
Luc Cucurull, the owner of one of the buildings evacuated on Friday, praised Rabouin for showing leadership and empathy for his tenants. Many of the displaced residents are students preparing to start school in September or immigrants without support networks. Some were housed by the Red Cross and later transferred to the city’s municipal housing agency for temporary shelter.
Cucurull, a structural engineer, said he visited the condemned building in 2021 and recognized its dangerous condition. Engineering reports obtained by Cucurull with the help of a lawyer in 2023 and 2024 confirmed that the building, with its bulging walls and lack of interior reinforcement, was at risk of collapse and needed to be demolished immediately.
For years, adjacent property owners have expressed frustration with the borough’s lack of action. Cucurull noted that every time he contacted the city, he was passed from one person to another, with no one taking responsibility. A contractor experienced in demolition has offered to complete the job for $491,000, a cost that would be passed on to the building’s owners.
The borough reported that the owner filed a demolition request in May 2023, but the process stalled after additional documentation was requested. In 2024, an exceptional demolition order was issued to fast-track the process. However, the owners stopped cooperating in June 2024, causing the process to halt again.
In May of this year, the borough attempted to issue a 20-day notice to begin the demolition but faced challenges in contacting the owners. A private investigator was hired to locate them. Despite promises from the building’s directors, Daniel Lalonde and Jonathan Pigeon, to demolish the structure on June 2, the deadline passed without action.
Norm Gordon, who owns one of the buildings evacuated in March, has been dealing with the issues of the condemned building for at least 12 years. He pointed out that city regulations require authorities to act if an owner fails to ensure a property’s safety. “What have they been waiting for?” Gordon asked. “Bricks are falling off the building, walls are collapsing. Are they waiting until someone gets killed?”
