'It’s just really unsafe': vacant building a safety concern in LaSalle

Windsor, Ont. -

An abandoned building in LaSalle is more than just an eye sore for one neighbour.

Doug Drouillard claims kids are entering the building that’s been vacant for years and he’s concerned about their safety.

“I’ve called a few times because there’s been kids that climb over the back and into the building and hang out for the day and it’s just really unsafe for them to be in there,” says Drouillard.

Drouillard lives on Vermont Street and says kids have been hanging around the boarded up property on Front Road - some even climbing to unsafe heights to get inside the building.

“When you walk around the outside, yeah sure, they’re all boarded up. The windows are boarded up, but it’s through the roof that they’re gaining access.”

According to Drouillard, it’s even attracting stray animals.

“You could probably count 15 cats going in and out of there in a day.”

Mayor Marc Bondy says complaints about the vacant building started about two years ago.

“Now animals? Sure could they climb up and a muskrat or raccoon sure, but quite frankly they could get into your house. So animals are not a concern,” says Bondy.

The issue has dragged on into a legal stand-off.

CTV looked up the property owner through the town’s assessment roll book, but did get a response to the matter from the person who answered the phone at the number registered on file.

“We did some investigation and found out there’s not much we can do,” says Bondy.

LaSalle administration had previously spoken to the property owner a number of years ago and as a result, measures to prevent access were shored up.

Bondy most recently spoke to fire officials on Sunday, who observed the property and stated there have been no visible signs of entry since the padlocks were installed.

“We’d like to have the building down and a new building put up,” he says. “We’d like a lot of things in the town but we can’t force anyone to take a building down.”