Some Queen’s University students will have to find alternative living arrangements for the next school year after a Kingston apartment building under construction burned down Dec. 17, and will not be rebuilt in time.
The blaze started on the top floor of a five-storey wood apartment building being built on Princess Street in Kingston, Ont. Students who had signed leases for the upcoming year say they are now left in the dark.
“My three roommates and I had signed the lease for next year and paid one month’s rent, along with a $200 deposit,” first-year Queen’s student Shannon Wong said. “That’s $900 in total per person for a four bedroom apartment.”
Patry Inc. Developments, the housing complex developer, sent an email on the evening of the fire assuring those who had signed leases that it would be in touch with them in the near future as the situation is assessed.
The developer sent a follow-up email Jan. 3 stating that “the damage to the building was devastating and Patry Inc. has recently concluded completion can no longer be guaranteed by September 1, 2014.”
Patry Inc. began reimbursing all deposits on Jan 6.
“We’re extremely disappointed that it can’t be rebuilt,” Wong said. “We’re planning to visit a few places when we go back to Kingston, but it’s hard to find a place as nice as 663 Princess would have been.”
Queen’s has not provided assistance for the students affected.
“The project under construction was a privately owned development,” the university said in a statement Dec. 19. The statement stressed that the project is in no way affiliated with the university.
“After the fire, Queen’s legal aid just told us to wait to see what happens,” Wong said. “No other updates have been made.”
The fire left nearby residents and students temporarily homeless just before the holidays. Those living inside the evacuation perimeters encompassing parts of Victoria, Macdonnell, Durham, and South Bartlett streets were promptly assisted by the city until the site was cleared, according to Kingston Police.
Gladys Kong, a Queen’s student whose house was within the evacuation perimeters, was one of the residents temporarily displaced.
“It was pretty hectic. People were running outside and walking up the streets to see what was happening,” Kong said.
The university provided Kong and other affected students with food and housing for the night, she said. Const. Steve Koopman, a spokesperson for Kingston Police, said the city determined it was enough of an emergency to operate through its centralized Emergency Operations Centre.
“A turnaround was made as quickly as possible, and the damaged construction crane was successfully dismantled at 6 p.m. on Dec. 21,” Koopman said.
Residents were allowed to return to their homes the following morning. Investigations are ongoing and there is currently no conclusion regarding the cause of the fire, according to Kingston Police.
