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| The Rubble of Third Avenue West may soon be a thing of the past with the City ready to get to the demolition process for the property that once hosted the Belmont Hotel |
Monday evening's City Council Session brought a surprise announcement from Mayor Herb Pond, the Mayor while participating in the session remotely from Ottawa, noted that plans are in motion for the Demolition of the rubble from the Belmont Hotel.
The remains of the structure has been a topic of much conversation in town and has been a state of community concern since the fire of May 2022.
"I have a question for staff around an issue that comes up often and that is, I know we're close to issuing a permit on the demolition of the Belmont, I wonder if I can get an update on that.
In response, Corporate Administrator Rosa Miller provided a status update on the plans.
"I spoke to our development services department this afternoon and my ink will be on that paper tomorrow morning.
So we are in a position to proceed we have been working with the owner of the property to move forward on that"
So far since the Monday Council session, the city has not put forward a public advisory through the civic website or their social media stream as to when the work will take place or what kind of timeline is anticipated towards the completion of the work.
Somewhat surprisingly, what seems like a significant milestone for the Belmont saga, didn't even make it to the Council Highlights summary from staff.
Mayor Pond also shared some notes related to the volume of plywood that can be seen along Third Avenue West and other areas of the downtown core.
The Mayor noting on Monday night that for the most part, the delay in replacement has been attributed to a lack of glaziers to do the work required.
"I sort of want to jump off on what Councillor Niesh is saying. And you know certainly plywood in the downtown is a concern, I've had some discussion, people are struggling because of challenges just getting glaziers to get the glass in"
You can hear the Mayors comments from the video archive starting at the one hour forty two minute mark.
More notes from Monday's Council Session can be explored through our Council Timeline Feature.
A wider overview of Council themes can be explored through our Council Discussion archive.
The city should not be patting itself on the back. Councilors some of the questions I have:
ReplyDeleteWhen was the demo permit applied for?
Did the city negotiations to purchase property for residential development hold up demolition?
If so why was not the clean-up done? ( The property has to be cleaned up no matter what happens to it down the road.)
If the city didn't delay the clean-up why wasn't the owner ordered to clean it up months ago?
This is one of the saddest examples of faulty city management that has happened in quite a while.
Excellent questions
DeleteThey need to add the old Empress to that demolition order, it is a major eye sore with the side rotting away, ready for collapse. How can we be proudly showing off our city to tourists? Embarrassment!!!
ReplyDeleteAlso the Angus apartment block, plus the little houses beside it with garbage laying in between the buildings.
ReplyDeleteYou people are asking a lot from the administration maybe in a few months. We are going into holiday season, taxpayers should chill until September.
ReplyDeleteThere are too many places not just downtown that the owners need to clean up the places
ReplyDelete