Poor conditions loom large in Hamilton apartment building that’s been without water for almost 40 days

Standing in the barren foyer of a central Hamilton apartment building, dust and debris beneath his feet, David Galvin pauses and looks overhead.

You can tell it wasn't always like this," he says, pointing to a brick wall that reads Delta Candy in bold, black-and-white font. That it used to be a grand old building or something."

Indeed, in the 1950s, the building at Main and King streets was at the heart of one of the city's most bustling entertainment and commercial hubs. Dubbed the Delta, and known for its angled, criss-crossed intersection, the area was lined with popular locales and even home to the first set of operating traffic lights in Canada.

Its marquee attraction, though, was the Delta Theatre, an elegant, 900-seat cinema with ornate wood panelling, crystal chandeliers capped under a dome-shaped ceiling, front and rear entrances, and a sweet shop near the box office called Delta Candy.

Today, remnants of that opulent theatre are figments of a distant past, left to deteriorate in a place people like Galvin call home.

Ever since I've been here, the conditions have just gotten worse and worse and worse," said Galvin, who moved into a two-bedroom unit at 1083 Main St. E. in 2004, about two decades after the old Delta Theatre and some of its surrounding properties were flipped into 60 apartments.

People don't want to live here anymore because it's been neglected and rolled down."

Since 2009, five different companies have owned the well-located building across from Gage Park, according to property records. All made promises to fix-up deteriorating common rooms and apartments, Galvin said, but those commitments never came to fruition.

On Wednesday, the disrepair in the building was obvious.

Its front door has no doorknob, just a latch to pull with your fingers. Slabs of plywood separate the foyer and mud room on a first floor that has no functioning heat. There are cracked tiles and massive pipes littered over the ground. Dozens of rancid garbage bags pile up near the staircase. On the upper floors, the majority of units are vacant. One apartment door was still covered in soot from a fire almost two years ago.

But that's not the worst of it.

After a winter storm on Dec. 28, frozen and burst pipes spurred the apartment's landlord to cut the water supply in a bid to prevent flooding.

And it hasn't come back since. Angela Smith of Caveat LLP, a firm representing the building's owner - 1083 Main St. Inc. - previously told The Spectator the repair work would be a massive undertaking."

Day 36 without water," a tired Galvin, 70, said Wednesday. How is this allowed to happen?"

It's hard to believe people are allowed to live like this, in a city like this," added Chris Martinez, another longtime tenant.

Just seven units of the once-packed building remain occupied. The tenants who have stayed are living off massive jugs of water - weighing as much as 50 pounds - to hydrate themselves and perform basic tasks like flushing toilets and washing dishes.

It takes eight litres for one flush, so you have to be smart," said Galvin. Sometimes, if it's yellow, you just got to let it mellow."

As for bathing themselves?

I've been lucky enough to be able to shower at friends' places," said Martinez.

I haven't showered in more than month, since the water went out," added tenant Kevin Brown.

On Jan. 5, city bylaw ordered the building's owner to fix the busted pipes and restore running water within 19 days.

That order was then appealed to the property standards committee, the city said. According to Galvin, the appeal hearing has been scheduled for Feb. 21.

Smith, the building owner's lawyer, didn't respond to questions this week about when tenants can expect water to come back.

In a previous statement, Smith noted the owners and managers went above the minimum requirement" and offered tenants alternative accommodation as repairs are carried out.

But many of the tenants have refused to leave their units to ensure that work could both be completed promptly and in the least intrusive manner," Smith said, adding her clients have also delivered daily supplies of water to the tenants.

Tenants believe the years-long neglect of the building, coupled with the delay in restoring water, is a ploy to get them out.

This is a renoviction' tactic to get the tenants to move," said Liz Scott of ACORN Hamilton, an advocacy group vouching for the residents, in reference to the practice of evicting tenants under the guise of needed renovation in hopes they don't return and the unit can be rented at a higher rate to new tenants.

In her statement, Smith said the building owners have, for months, been trying to vacate the derelict property for renovations.

Smith said tenants were served with N13 notices on March 24, 2022, to vacate the building within 120 days for necessary renovations. Further applications were filed with the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) on June 24, she added, which requested vacant possession of the units to ensure planned work could be completed.

Tenants, meanwhile, say they never received those N13 notices, which are set to be heard by the LTB on March 8.

But whether tenants received those eviction notices doesn't change the fact they need water - and urgently, said Coun. Nrinder Nann, who represents the area.

Nobody should be going without water. That's a clear given," said the Ward 3 councillor, who visited the building last week. It was absolutely heartbreaking what I saw there."

Nann said the conditions in the building and the ongoing water crisis underscores a need for new bylaws meant to curb renovictions" and negligent landlords.

I think, fundamentally, the solution for us as a municipality is going to be our anti-renoviction bylaw regime," she said.

In December 2021, council directed staff to hire a consultant to explore the creation of an anti-renoviction bylaw. That consultant has since been hired, Nann said. They're presently meeting with stakeholders and reviewing similar existing bylaws across the country before reporting back to council at a yet-determined date.

In Ontario, landlords can issue N13 notices to vacate properties for renovations that require building permits and need units empty to do the work.

Because there's no rent control between tenancies, once the units are vacant, landlords can hike rents as high they like. Tenants do have the right to return at their original rent rate, but, according to ACORN, with many tenants not knowing their rights, tenants will often just move out."

What worries tenants at 1083 Main is the time it'll take for them to return. Many of those who've long wanted to leave are on disability and fear other options on the market are out of reach financially.

I've been looking to move for years, but I can't," said Martinez, 32. I pay $750 a month. A one-bedroom in Hamilton is around $1,500. I just can't afford that."

Sebastian Bron is a reporter at The Spectator. sbron@thespec.com