Montreal steps in to restore heat and hot water in Lachine apartment building after months without

Tenants at 3480 Ivan Franko St. in Lachine have gotten their hot water back almost two months after their taps went cold. Today their heat was also restored after doing without since winter of last year, according to resident Thomas Shedrick.

“It felt like Christmas, the first shower, because at my age, I’m going on 60, when you take a hot shower, it just relieves so many aches and pains in your body,” said Shedrick, who has lived in the building for three years.

Since November, he and his wife have been boiling water and “washing ourselves in the sink with a cup.” A “degrading” experience, according to Shedrick.

It’s not the first time the city intervened in repairs for the 47-unit building.

In 2023, the dumpster was found to be broken after garbage started accumulating, according to Lachine Borough Mayor Maja Vodanovic. The landlord now owes the city months of unpaid bills for a rented replacement they installed.

Before stepping in again, the city had to prove they’d tried to contact the landlord, Thi Lan Nguyen.

“We sent letters, we sent fines,” said Vodanovic, “and because we had no answer and the people were cold, we just did what had to be done,” .

City representatives were onsite Tuesday morning to help coordinate the repairs, which are estimated at $10,000 and will need to be paid back by the building’s owner.

Many employees from privately owned companies hired by the city were busy working in the furnace room.

A heating technician said it hadn’t been properly kept up over the years.

“It’s a bloody dump and there’s a lot of damage,” said Davor Radimiri, while pointing at everything from decaying boxes on the floor to the complicated circuit of overhead pipes, many of which were rusted over.

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“It was leaking for years and it must have been leaking inside,” he said about the breaker box and pipe above it that was taped over. “It shorted out the breakers and that’s why we have no hot water.”

Two plumbers said that one of the gas-powered boiler needed a part replaced, but that the second boiler was running. According to their manager, the next step is to verify to verify each apartment to ensure everything is in order. He estimated that the visits would start on Wednesday and would need the assistance of a locksmith.

An Énergir technician was also onsite and confirmed that the gas was working.

The concerted effort is only the beginning of what needs repair though.

There was a strong foul odour in the hallways and stairs. The elevator was out of order. A letter to the landlord had been posted by a resident asking them to fix the hot water.

“I’m grateful for what the city and the services have done for us,” said Shedrick. “I’m hoping that they’re going to take steps towards cleaning the place up because the condition of the apartment building is very, very bad.”

CityNews reached out to the landlord and building manager, but did not hear back. 

“It’s very embarrassing, when you’ve had people coming over to visit, and they’re questioning why are you living there,” said Shedrick. “I tell them, ‘well, it’s a low cost housing and it’s difficult to get an apartment today, we have to accept what we have sometimes.'”