An abandoned, derelict apartment building on Cook Street is finally coming down after years of concern from the city.
The three-storey building has not had tenants for 10 years, when the city had the building boarded up due to unsafe conditions posed by work without a permit, according to a July 2014 city council report.
Destruction of the building commenced last week, and appears to be going well, said Katie Hamilton, spokesperson for the City of Victoria.
“The city has been satisfied with the work to date,” she said.
In April 2013, the city ordered Robin Kimpton, owner of the Cook Street building and many others in the city, to put up a fence around the property and board up the windows.
Last June, there was a fire in the building, causing extensive damage to the structure.
The building was deemed unsafe, and a structural engineer recommended it be demolished.
As of July, the city said Kimpton had not taken any action to deal with the unsafe conditions.
On July 24, the city gave Kimpton 60 days to obtain a building permit to remediate the unsafe conditions or demolish the building.
According to the city, public complaints are received in regards to the Cook street building on a regular basis, including complaints of squatters, vandalism and graffiti.
In September, the city gave Kimpton 30 days to demolish the building. While those 30 days have long since passed, Hamilton said progress had been taking place between then and now.
There were delays with the demotion date due to the environmental consultant being unavailable, Hamilton said.
Demolition is expected to be completed on Friday, Dec. 5.