Owner of former Vulcan Iron Works site wants to save parts of structure

Work to demolish and level the site of the former Vulcan Iron Works building in Point Douglas won't begin until at least this summer, after the City of Winnipeg's property and development committee again adjourned an appeal hearing on its cleanup order without making a decision.

The committee delayed the decision after property owner Sheldon Blank asked city officials to amend the demolition order to allow some structures on the property to remain.

"The chances of rebuilding in Point Douglas today are zero to none. Why would you want to destroy an opportunity to keep at least something worthwhile?" Blank told the committee at Monday's appeal hearing.

The historic iron works building on Sutherland Avenue was gutted by a fire in July 2023, leaving a partially collapsed structure and piles of rubble. Another blaze in September further damaged it, with the city saying there have been several minor fires there since then.

But Blank said some of the structures on the property, which were built more recently than the main warehouse — which dates back to the late 1800s — are salvageable.

"It would be really unfortunate that this owner who had a revenue-producing building since 1974, who's trying to salvage some of the good parts of that building, would be forced to demolish those good parts of the building and not be able to continue to be a productive citizen," Blank's lawyer, Antoine Hacault, said at the hearing.

The city's order calls for the entire site to be demolished, but chief commercial building inspector James Cameron told the committee the department would consider amending the order if Blank could produce an engineer's report stating that the remaining structures were safe.

Blank said he had such a report and had submitted it to the city. 

The city had ordered the site levelled by Dec. 4, 2023, but work has been unable to move forward due to a provincial workplace health and safety order that any demolition must mitigate the risk of asbestos contamination by soaking the debris before removing it. 

That work adds to the cost of demolition, and was made practically impossible by the freezing temperatures over winter, Blank has said.

Now, Blank says he plans to remove the debris, mitigating for asbestos where it is found, but he asked the city to allow him to dispose of the material at the Brady Road landfill and waive the fees.

If the city agrees to it, and provincial workplace health officials accept his plan, Blank said he can complete the work in 60 days.

Asbestos 'holding up' work

The committee voted to adjourn the hearing until June 17. A previous hearing on the matter in February was also adjourned.

Committee chair Coun. Sherri Rollins said given the conflict between the current order to demolish the whole site, and city staff's willingness to consider Blank's plan to save part of the structure, the only course of action was to adjourn the hearing.

Rollins also suggested work was needed to find a way of resolving conflicts when city demolition orders are held up by provincial workplace health and safety orders.

"There's clearly things to be worked out, maybe new government-to-government relationships to be forged," she said during Monday's hearing.

Rollins pointed out there are many buildings in Winnipeg that might contain asbestos, which could become an issue in the event that any of them need to be demolished.

"In this case of 150 Sutherland [Ave.], definitely asbestos was holding up, or was seen to be holding up, the permits for demoing," she said in an interview following the meeting.

"In terms of … continuum of enforcement, there are other departments involved. Folks, regardless of whether or not they're interacting with the city or they're interacting with the province, they need to have that line of sight clarified on responsibility and accountability."

Rollins said a motion would be coming forward at the next property and development committee meeting to address issues around enforcement.

At Monday's appeals hearing, the property and development committee also rejected an appeal from the owner of a row of townhouses on Arnold Avenue who was fighting an order to vacate.

The city had issued orders to vacate four townhouses, each divided into two units, after finding numerous safety concerns, including crumbling exterior brick walls, deteriorating back steps, and interior and exterior work done without proper permits.