Countdown underway to cleanup derelict St. Pierre Renovation Centre on Exeter Road
A deadline has been given for the ownership of a prominent eyesore in south London, Ont. to address a property standards order— or city hall will.
On Feb. 16, municipal compliance officers issued an order against the ownership of 595 Exeter Rd., formerly the St. Pierre Renovation Centre, to cleanup the debris-filled property and securing the building from trespassers.
IN PHOTOS: The former St. Pierre Renovation Centre
According to Coun. Elizabeth Peloza, the city is prepared to step in next week.
“There's a legal process the city follows and a period for compliance,” Peloza explained. “Since that has passed, the week of April 14th, we should start to see some work on the site being done.”
The property has a complex history with city hall that spans several decades.
By 2015, a report to city council about 595 Exeter Rd. and the adjacent Shamrock Industrial Park described efforts by then-owner Samuel John Shirley Sr. to address soil contamination and unpaid property taxes.
The former St. Pierre Renovation Centre at 595 Exeter Rd., seen on April 11, 2024. (Daryl Newcombe/CTV News London)
His son, John Shirley Jr., recently told CTV News that his father died in 2020 and the property is part of the estate.
In recent years, the site has increasingly become littered with piles of construction debris and broken furniture.
Neighbours complain that the building attracts looters, youth, and the homeless.
“It’s piles of debris, I know there has been a fire here, and residents report directly to me about people on the site, people going through their neighbourhood,” Peloza said.
She has been working with city staff and outside agencies to ensure the safety concerns and blight are addressed.
If the cleanup is left to the city, taxpayers won’t be left holding the bill.
“The city brings in people to clean it [unless] the property owner has brought in their own people to clean it,” she explained. “The fees for that cleaning service will be billed back to the person who owns the property.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Liberal MP says she's leaving politics over disrespectful dialogue, threats, misogyny
Liberal MP Pam Damoff says she won't run again in the next federal election, saying she has experienced misogyny, disrespectful dialogue in politics and threats to her life.
Concerns about Plexiglass prompt inspections at some Loblaws locations in Ottawa
Inspections are underway at more than one Loblaws location in Ottawa after complaints were filed about tall Plexiglass barriers.
Federal employees will be required to spend 3 days a week in the office
Starting in September, public servants in the core public administration will be required to work in the office a minimum of three days a week. The Treasury Board Secretariat says executives will need to be in the office four days per week.
OPP officer said 'someone's going to get hurt' before wrong-way Hwy. 401 crash
As multiple Durham police cruisers were chasing a robbery suspect on the wrong side of Highway 401 Monday night, an Ontario Provincial Police officer shared his concerns, telling a dispatcher, "Someone's going to get hurt."
Ont. woman who faked pregnancy to defraud doulas arrested again on similar charges
Victims of a Brantford, Ont., woman who was sentenced to house arrest earlier this year for defrauding and deceiving doulas say they’re not surprised she’s been apprehended again on similar charges.
Five human skeletons, missing hands and feet, found outside house of Nazi leader Hermann Göring
Archeologists have unearthed the skeletons of five people, missing their hands and feet, at a former Nazi military base in Poland.
Poilievre returns to House unrepentant for calling Trudeau 'wacko,' Speaker not resigning
An unrepentant Pierre Poilievre returned to the House of Commons on Wednesday to pepper the prime minister about his drug decriminalization policies after being booted the day prior for refusing to take back calling Justin Trudeau 'wacko' over his approach to the issue.
Construction begins on LGBTQ2S+ national monument in Ottawa
Shovels have hit the ground for constuction on Canada's LGBTQ2S+ national monument in Ottawa.
B.C. man awarded $5,000 in damages in first-of-it-kind intimate image case
In a first-of-its-kind case, a B.C. tribunal has ruled on a dispute involving the non-consensual sharing of intimate images, awarding damages and issuing orders that the photos be destroyed and taken offline.