People living in Calgary who called Kensington Manor home said they’re being told by the property manager not to expect to move back for another six months.
Many of the 125 residents are now getting their damage deposits returned to them. Natasha Friesen said the whole ordeal is unsettling.
“I’ve lived here for six years so it’s hard to come to terms with the fact that this place I’ve come to call my home is not longer going to be.”
The balconies at the Kensington Manor have been under repair for almost a year. During a routine inspection, an engineer monitoring that work noticed an even deeper concern: the structural integrity of the entire 57-unit building was at risk.
Former resident, Fiona Kashmer, said she voiced concerns months ago.
“If they knew balconies were structurally unsound, why didn’t they get the whole thing assessed?
“That was a concern living there and that’s the reason we moved.”
READ MORE: ‘Possible imminent building collapse’ forces evacuation of 8-storey Kensington complex
Area councillor Druh Farrell said there’s more questions that need to be asked about whether or not the landlord was aware of these glaring concerns.
“I don’t know how this fell through the cracks but we are going to have to figure that out to see if there’s something to learn from this.”
The City of Calgary’s Safety Response Unit Supervisor said work on the balconies was being monitored and inspected and there was no reason to believe there were other deficiencies.
“We’re there to monitor inspections on permits so if we inspected balconies there was no reason to go into rest of the building,” Dennis Terhove said.
Shoring work is already underway. It will take a couple of weeks to fully stabilize the building. Residents will be allowed back in after that preliminary work is done to return home and retrieve the remainder of their belongings.
The city is helping displaced resident find alternate accommodations and says Calgary Housing has available suites for them if needed.