The wait is still on for people to move back into 100 Little Ave.
More delays have forced the south-end Barrie apartment building, once ravaged by fire, to sit empty for more than two years after the spectacular blaze that lit up the night sky on April 23, 2018.
At the time, Barrie Housing officials told BarrieToday that the organization was expected to get full possession of the building by the end of October, with tenants set to move in come November.
But the building currently sits empty with no timeline for tenants to reoccupy the units.
“We haven’t been able to move tenants back in yet,” Mary Anne Denny-Lusk told BarrieToday on Wednesday. “The project had to endure some delays due to several items that were unavailable as a result of COVID-19.
"We are working toward getting the occupancy agreement shortly," she added.
Denny-Lusk said the issues have mainly revolved around the building's HVAC system.
Back in September, work was focused on getting the elevators installed, placing water heaters, finishing the units on the first three floors, and building kitchens and bathrooms on the new fourth floor. Balcony railings were also still needed.
The April 2018 blaze displaced 25 families.
The building has been empty ever since. Another move-in date was set for April 2020, in the early days of the pandemic, and has since passed.
Barrie Housing owns and operates 953 housing units across 14 locations with around 3,000 tenants.
In September, Denny-Lusk said that, despite many of the former tenants of 100 Little having been moved into other locations after the 2018 blaze, she expected some to come back.
“The units being repaired are being offered up to the previous tenants first and foremost, but we know there are some who are established where they are and don’t want to move,” she said at the time. “We do have quite a bit who want to come back. They feel it is still their home.”
The newly added fourth floor, which includes 11 units, is being offered to seniors.
Denny-Lusk said Barrie Housing is working with the County of Simcoe to get those units filled as well.
