Liverpool property owner ordered to demolish buildings after years of complaints

By Rick Conrad

A rundown Liverpool property that has been the subject of numerous complaints since 2009 will be torn down in the next 30 days.

Queens regional councillors voted on Tuesday to issue a demolition order to the owner of 90 Common St. in Liverpool.

The property used to be known as the Wesleyan Church. In 2009, Chris Currie and a friend bought the property. Currie is now the sole owner.

Neighbours had lodged many complaints over the years with Queens bylaw enforcement officers, saying the property is dangerous and unsightly.

Bylaw enforcement officer Jason Hartung told councillors Tuesday that since 2009, neighbours have continued to file complaints and the property has continued to deteriorate. He recommended that council declare it dangerous and unsightly and issue an order for the owner within 30 days to demolish the main building and an out building, and clean up all construction and demolition materials and all other miscellaneous debris like glass, metals, shingles and plastics.

If the owner doesn’t comply, the municipality may do the work and bill him for it.

“It appears to be collapsing in on itself and it presents a clear and present danger to the public,” Hartung said. “The owner has had numerous years to address these concerns.”

The owner told bylaw enforcement in 2015 that he would tear down the property, but that never happened. Hartung said Currie complied with several requests to clean up the property, but the building continued to deteriorate.

In 2017, a fire inside the structure damaged it further. Despite the property being mostly boarded up, people were breaking in and vandalizing it. Even the RCMP contacted the municipality with concerns about their officers’ safety, Hartung said.

In April 2020, the region’s building inspector recommended it be demolished as soon as possible.

Currie told the municipality in May 2021 that he would demolish the building and build a new rental property on the land. Hartung said that when that didn’t happen, Currie blamed Covid lockdowns.

Hartung said municipal staff gave him more time to fix the problems. In May 2023, bylaw enforcement again inspected and found that the property was still dangerous and unsightly. In December, they received yet another complaint about dangerous conditions on the property and saw that an exterior wall at the back of the building had collapsed. Parts of the roof were also caved in.

Hartung said Currie has said he would apply for various permits to develop the property over the years or promised to demolish it, but never followed through. 

“This property can no longer be secured,” he said. “The building is a possible threat to public safety.”

Currie’s wife Karen Gilmour asked councillors Tuesday to give him more time. She said he plans to build a three-unit affordable rental on the property. She said he couldn’t be there because he was away working.

She asked them to extend the 30-day demolition order to 90 to 120 days to give Currie time to fix it up and secure funding for the affordable housing project.

“There have been numerous times where he’s tried to do something with that property,” she said in an interview after the meeting. 

“He’s just a private landowner. He bought a building that was in disrepair, was hoping to do something with it and … it hasn’t really worked out. He’s done the best that he could to ensure that he was complying with bylaw enforcement in terms of cleanup and covering up graffiti.”

District 2 Coun. Ralph Gidney said that while he sympathizes with what Gilmour told councillors, he said it’s obvious the buildings can no longer stand.

“With everything that’s transpired in the last nine years (since 2015), I can’t see holding this off any longer. But history is repeating itself here. And I think we’d better do something now.”

Gilmour said her husband will go ahead with his plan to develop affordable housing on the site.

“It’s only been in recent weeks that we’ve been able to explore the options available for affordable housing, which this community is in desperate need of. I was really hoping that council would consider that. And it’s a little bit disappointing that that didn’t even get discussed.

“It’s quite a viable project. … It’s just unfortunate that we’re not going to be given the additional time needed to secure the property.”

Mayor Darlene Norman said council is always hesitant to issue a demolition order. But it’s been 14 years and “it is a huge concern to people in the community.

“I do believe the owners are responsible people and they will work with staff to get that building down and get the place cleaned up within 30 days of the date of the order.”

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com