'It’s been hell': St. Thomas, Ont. building demolished two weeks after partial foundation collapse

Kevin Ferneyhough held back the tears as he watched a backhoe tear down his apartment on Monday.

The foundation of the building at 68 Hiawatha St. in St. Thomas partially collapsed on Dec. 27, 2023 and he’s been unable to return since.

“My whole life's been crumbled in front of me, everything’s gone,” said Ferneyhough, who lived in the front unit of the four home complex.

After it was determined that it was unsafe to enter the building, or restore the foundation, it was torn down Monday.

“I've cried for weeks, and I’m just holding it together for my son,” said Ferneyhough, who hoped he’d be able to return to at least get some of his prized possessions.

He added, “It looks like my fears were correct as I was told by an old neighbor that my place had been looted over the past couple of days. The [antique] ships in the window are gone, my gaming system’s gone, the gamer chair gone.”

Fernyhough does have a fully-furnished place to stay, but it’s only for the next three months.

Ethan Walker’s upper floor apartment at 68 Hiawatha St. in St. Thomas, Ont. was the last to crumble on Jan 8, 2023. (Brent Lale/CTV News London) Ethan Walker was a tenant in the upper rear unit. He watched as his home came down last.

“It’s just hard to watch everyone's stuff get torn down knowing there's no chance and getting any of my possessions back,” said Walker, who just hours earlier signed a lease to a new place, and he’ll be reunited with his dog. “It's just a new chapter now almost. I have a moving date for tomorrow. So I'll be into new, bigger apartments, so that'll be really nice.”

St. Thomas’ chief building official issued an unsafe order on Dec. 27, 2023. After assessments by the engineers, the owner and his insurance company, they came to the conclusion to demolish the building.

“It's been an unsafe spot since the foundation eroded away,” explained Joe Preston, St. Thomas’ mayor. 

The four-apartment building at 68 Hiawatha St. in St. Thomas, Ont. was torn down on Jan. 8, 2024, just two weeks after the foundation partially collapsed. (Brent Lale/CTV News London)

He added, “I have empathy for those living there, but we’ve thrown a pile of resources at it from the housing department, victim services and a number of other agencies really helping people through this crisis. It's not over yet.”

Preston said they determined it was just too great of a liability to have the building sitting there.

“We can move forward then on reinforcing the neighborhood or putting the neighborhood back together,” added Preston. “We’ll continue to move forward and helping the people who were tenants in that building.”

Those tenants are grateful for all the support they’ve received over the past two weeks.

“It’s been hell,” said Ferneyhough. “Through donations and friends I haven’t seen in years I’m overwhelmed with the kindness and generosity of the entire community. It’s devastating that they just crumbled that building with everyone’s possessions in it because our whole lives were in there.”