Tenants displaced by St. John's convention centre growth

A group of tenants is being evicted in downtown St. John's to make way for the expansion of the St. John's Convention Centre.

The tenants said the building they live in is among a number of structures that are being expropriated for the project.

Nora McCurdy is among those who have been told they will have to leave the Waldegrave Street building.

She says she lives on a fixed income and doesn't know where she'll end up.

"Damn thing is sold, we have no choice," she told CBC News.

Tenants in the building received a letter from a lawyer notifying them of the expropriation. McCurdy said they were told they’ll have to leave by April 10.

St. John's Mayor O'Keefe said he understands why people are upset and he's promising city staff will meet every tenant to see if they're eligible for affordable housing.

"I'm upset by it. I'm upset by the fact that the eviction notices were issued without our knowledge and even without our information," said O'Keefe.

"Had we known, we would have been able to say to the owners: 'Hang on a second now, we have a plan here, we're going to work with these people and we're going to see what we can do to ensure that they are suitably housed' but that didn't happen."