Tenants Evacuated from Springhill Apt Complex

An old sprawling house at 2 Victoria Street in Springhill has been closed under order of the Provincial Fire Marshal’s office. The building may have housed as many as thirteen apartments.

An official order to evacuate the building was issued Thursday or Friday by the Fire Marshal. County officials enlisted support for the residents from the Red Cross branch in Amherst, along with support workers from the Department of Social Services.

Residents had very little time to move and most will need to go back for possessions left behind.

Fire and building inspectors from the Municipality of Cumberland have been working with the building owner at 2 Victoria Street for quite some time, but repairs and upgrades to correct fire and safety violations have not met deadlines, resulting in the building being condemned.

While it sounds like a last minute crisis — and it is for the building tenants — these events are usually months in the making.

The building has housed apartment dwellers over the years, but one official said a new owner was renovating and expanding the number of units which, in turn, triggered closer inspection, revealing a number of serious code violations that required immediate attention.

The photo shows the building at 2 Victoria Street.

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