River Heights residents angry with city after homes torn down

People in River Heights are upset with the City of Winnipeg for demolishing houses on Fulham Avenue because they've been neglected and fallen into disrepair.

The city bulldozed at least one of threevacant homes on Fulham andKenaston Boulevard on Monday.

Ken Klassen lives in the area andclaims the city is violating its own neighbourhood liveability and vacant building bylaws by taking the homes down.

The city previouslyacquired homes at 61 and65 Fulham Ave.and one at 49 Kenaston Blvd. Klassensaid the city committedto taking care of and renting outthe vacant homes until the landwas needed to widen Kenaston.

"They promised the community that if they [bought]homesthey'll maintain them, and [that] they won't be torn down until they're actually needed.And in fact, we see behind us, the opposite is occurring," Klassen said as tractors pulled apart one of the homes nearby.

A spokesperson with the city said the homes were deemed unfit to live in.

"We're demolishing the houses now to protect the public, because they are unfit for occupancy and represent a safety risk," thespokesperson said in a statement.

'Destroying the evidence'

But Klassen said the only reason thehomes are unsafe to live in is because the city didn't honour its word to take care of them.

"They're running these houses into the ground and then claiming that they're unrentable and then demolishingthem destroying the evidence," he said.

Homeowner angry with city over move to demolish buildings along Kenaston Boulevard

8 years ago

Duration 0:59

A Winnipeg homeowner says the city is covering up evidence of neglect after tractors tore down

Klassensaid it was devastating to see the first of the buildingsgo.

"It's really horrible to see beautiful character homes, that were once occupied by families, go vacant for years, and have no maintenanceand having the police using them for practice for their SWATteam," Klassen said.

"It's just a real degradation of the quality of life in the community, and it's all because of the City of Winnipeg."

The city spokesperson said the land will now be converted into green space with "as many trees as possible."