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UPDATE: Demolition starts on Penhorwood condos

(An excavator tears down the first of seven buildings of the Penhorwood Condominiums. Jan. 15, 2015. Crystal Laderas/Morning Reporter). 

The condemned Penhorwood Condominiums are set to meet their end. After three days of preparing the site, demolition crews started tearing down the first of seven buildings this morning. In 2011, owners were given just minutes to leave after a report flagged structural concerns.

Glen Paulson looked on as an excavator pulled a part one of the buildings. He spoke about a friend who is still paying a mortgage on one of the condos.

“He had only just moved to Fort McMurray, just got a job, purchased a condo here in Fort McMurray and wasn’t in it very long before they had to move out,” says Paulson.

Envirocon workers stood at the site, along with Regional Emergency Services  members who were doing safety checks before the work started. A review of the buildings last year noted mold, water damage and hazmat material inside. It recommended paramedics be involved in the process. Paulson often takes his dog for walks around the area and says it’s about time the buildings came down.

“You see the graffiti on the roof, so obviously people have been breaking into them. And it’s a dangerous situation, not only the defects in the building but the mold and everything that’s developed in them.

A peace officer parked outside the site was keeping the public away from the fenced buildings. He said crews were doing air quality monitoring as the building’s walls came down.

The RMWB is paying $3 million for the the demolition. It expects the site to be clear by Feb. 18.