Residents who are permanently leaving a Winnipeg apartment building that was vacated in May due to structural issues are getting a chance to return — but only to pack their things so they can start moving out.
Dozens of people arrived at Birchwood Terrace on Portage Avenue Tuesday morning to access their old suites for the first time in months. After the sudden departure, followed by months of uncertainty, Birchwood residents say revisiting their apartments — and finally getting access to their belongings — is bittersweet.
“There were tears this morning when I walked in,” Judi Stanley said.
“It was like somebody kicked me in the gut — just going back in there and seeing what was left from when we left originally. Everything was upended and it was very, very emotional.”
Stanley, who told Global Winnipeg last week she was finally moving into a new apartment, said the entire ordeal hasn’t just affected individual Birchwood tenants, but has also destroyed the sense of community the residents had built.
“This was a home. This was a big family here and it’s been separated now,” she said. “We still keep in contact with each other, but it’s been separated now.”
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According to the City of Winnipeg, although the building is not yet safe to be re-occupied, an engineer confirmed it has been stabilized enough to allow limited access.
The evacuation alert for neighbouring properties, however, was lifted on July 25.
Andrey Belskiy, who lived in Birchwood Terrace for nearly a decade, is glad to be able to finally get some of his things.
“I consider us lucky because we managed to rent a different apartment almost right away. But it’s hard because you come to an empty place completely,” he said. “You get used to little things that you don’t notice anymore. But when they’re not there, that is the trouble.”
He said he and his wife made a trip to the Dollarama for basic kitchenware like plates, cutlery and glasses. But the doozie has been his bed, which is still locked away in Birchwood.
“(I’m) sleeping on the floor, because buying new furniture is not smart because we have everything. So that is not easy,” he said.
The 171-unit building, which was built in the 1960s, was rapidly evacuated after a May inspection uncovered severe deterioration to the columns that support the building.
Resident Cari Shier said the return to Birchwood was more emotional than she had expected — especially after finding out a shed on her back porch had been broken into in her absence, and some of her things stolen.
Even so, Shier said she intends to move back into the building once it’s been given the OK, as she spent months looking for another apartment and couldn’t find anything that met her needs the way Birchwood Terrace did.
“The thought of having to pack up and move my entire life … it was not feasible. Just not feasible right now. I have to come back. I have no choice.”
Waiting for the day when she’s given the all-clear to return, however, hasn’t been easy.
“Living out of suitcases is tough. It’s not a vacation — living in a hotel isn’t what people think it is.
“After a while, it gets to be too much, and you want home and you want your bed. You want normalcy.”
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