Vandalism suspected at Seniors’ housing project construction site

Jeff Green | Sep 30, 2010

Photo: Jane Drew and Cam Allemn survey the damagea at the Site of North Frontenac Non-Profit Housings' seniors housing project.

On Monday morning, September 27, Arno Huerter arrived with his crew to continue putting up styrofoam forms at the construction site of a five-unit affordable housing building off the Clement Road near Sharbot Lake.

“One of my guys called over and told me to look at the side of the building,” he said in a telephone interview on Tuesday. “Two of the walls were down. At first I thought it was the wind but when I looked more closely I realised that the damage was not likely caused by wind because wind does not discriminate, it would push down all the walls.

“Also, the way the wall it is constructed one course is hooked to the next and there is re-bar in it as well. It would take a pretty strong wind. It looks to me like it was pushed over.”

There were high winds in the area on Friday night, September 25.

The project manager for the construction project is Cam Allen. “I stopped by the site on Saturday afternoon, September 26 at around 2:30 and walked around the building. Everything was fine,” Allen said. “But something may have happened on Saturday night.”

One of the tenants in an adjacent building has been keeping an eye on the site for Allen. On Saturday night, the tenant was away, but his son saw a truck pull right up to the construction site and a man got out and spent some time at the site. The tenant’s son took down the license plate number of the truck.

The OPP were called in, and an officer attended the site late on Monday afternoon to gather information. As of Tuesday, OPP had made no comment on the state of their investigation.

Meanwhile the North Frontenac Not-For-Profit Housing Corporation is facing extra costs and delays in their construction project as the result of the damage.

“We don’t have any budget for extra costs but we will have to find the money somewhere,” said Jane Drew, general manager of the corporation. “We have also had to tighten security as the result of this, so we will be having someone watching the site 24 hours a day. That costs money as well.”