The building that once housed the neighborhood resource center has seen squatters attack property management officers, a tenant, while water problems continue amid thefts of copper pipes
A Sault Ste. The Marie man says he now fears for his life every time he goes in or out of his downtown apartment because of the takeover of the building.
Steve Masters lives in a rented apartment at 138 Gore Street, a building that once housed the now-defunct Neighborhood Resource Center.
He says that two of the apartments and the basement have been occupied, and in the last few days a small camp has been set up under the stairs behind the building.
“Literally, they have infected the building. There were six of them in the hallway trying to get to the door today,” Masters said, speaking to SooToday on Wednesday. “They’re setting up camp again – tarps are stretched under the stairs.”
Masters says that after receiving a police escort in and out of his apartment on Monday and Tuesday this week, one of the squatters threatened to throw him down the stairs on Wednesday “and kick my ass if I come back.”
“The other night I walked out my door and the hallway was wet with urine and vomit,” Masters said, adding that he also found human feces in the building’s entrance.
In the past month, there were two instances where the building was without running water due to copper pipes being pulled from it.
Masters was without running water for four days at one point a few weeks ago before the property owners fixed the problem. He says his water went out again last Monday.
“I’m hauling five gallon jugs of water so I can fill my toilet so I can at least flush it and flush myself,” Masters said, adding that he wasn’t able to wash dishes or do laundry during the days the building was without water. “The only running water I have right now is the water running through the leaky roof, which I really don’t expect them to fix anytime soon.”
Masters says people living in the former camp at the corner of Gore Street and Albert Street East were driven elsewhere after it was torn down by the Sault Ste. Marie Police Service July 28 — in conjunction with social services, community outreach workers, paramedics and the city’s public works department — amid growing public health and safety concerns.
Masters was contacted by law enforcement yesterday about 138 Gore Street, but he would like to see the matter quickly resolved out of concern for his own safety.
“I feel like I’m under siege and seeing the tarps being put back up when I left for work this morning just makes me sick,” Masters said. “Why, after going to great lengths to break up the camp, are they allowing this to happen again?”
“There was no follow-up after they destroyed the camp. I swear, their public safety and health concerns disappeared when those vehicles left the parking lot,” he continued. “The police were fantastic but there was only so much they could do.”
RWC Management is the residential property management company that began managing 138 Gore Street last September.
In an email to SooToday on Wednesday, RWC officer IB Fabian said that “the building was invaded by drug addicts and trespassers[s]” over the summer, resulting in a plumber and a tenant being assaulted in addition to other employees.
“We got the police involved a couple of times and they cleared them out, we cordon off the place and they come right back,” Fabian said.
RWC management say they are “currently working with the police to attend this Friday to clear out these junkies, board up the place and get a plumber back in there”.
The property management company also says it is now offering Masters unspecified compensation and a possible move to another property.
On Thursday, members of the Sault Ste. Marie Police Service were seen talking to people in the makeshift shelter under the staircase behind 138 Gore Street. SooToday has contacted police for details.
Masters told SooToday on Wednesday that he is now at a “tipping point.”
“Maybe when more people are aware of the situation, the city will step up and take a more active role and see the situation through instead of just washing their hands and walking away.” I don’t know if that’s possible,” he said.
Freddie Pozebon, Chief Building Officer for the City of Sault Ste. Marie, says the township is currently in the process of issuing an order to remedy the property management company’s violation under the township’s property standards bylaw.
“We are unable to speak on the matter at this time due to confidentiality,” Pozzebon informed SooToday via email on Thursday. “We are pursuing the lack of water and other issues with the building.”
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