THUNDER BAY — Judging by the condition of the building, it's unlikely a south-side Thunder Bay rooming house will reopen anytime soon.
The Thunder Bay District Health Unit ordered the building at 130 May Street South vacated in early November because of unsafe and unsanitary conditions.
Tenants forced to find alternate housing were provided with emergency accommodation by the Red Cross.
Although a TBDHU representative said it appeared that well over 30 people had been staying in the building, the District Social Services Administration Board only identified 18 individuals potentially in need of assistance.
DSSAB was able to find permanent shelter for eight of those tenants.
A spokesperson said the agency couldn't make contact with all of the others, but of those it did reach, some arranged for accommodation on their own, and some declined the offer of help.
The building, located across from City Hall, is owned by a numbered Ontario corporation based in the Greater Toronto Area.
Lee Sieswerda, manager of Environmental Health for the TBDHU, said inspectors found multiple problems in the rooming house, including a rodent infestation, garbage, used needles and a lack of plumbing.
"The most immediate and pressing threat to public safety when we closed it was the fact that the heating in the building actually broke down," Sieswerda said.
Because overnight temperatures at the time were falling into minus double-digits, the TBDHU brought in an expert in boiler systems to examine the equipment.
Sieswerda said there was no prospect of getting it operational again within any reasonable timeline.
He added that there were also a lot of combustibles in the building, and a malfunctioning fire alarm system.
"So it was just really extremely dangerous to attempt to heat the building with electric heat."
Sieswerda said that, based on discussions with the landlord, there's "no prospect" the rooming house will be reopened in the immediate future.
Emergency responders including police, paramedics and firefighters have been dispatched to the building on numerous occasions in recent years.
