No action came out of a meeting between Manitoba Housing and the City of Flin Flon about the empty building at 4 Hemlock Dr.
According to a representative from Manitoba Housing, next steps for the property were discussed during the Dec. 6 meeting, but no other information was provided by the province at The Reminder deadline.
Mayor Cal Huntley said Manitoba Housing asked if the City had concerns about the province exploring other opportunities for the building, which has sat empty for nearly six years. Huntley said those other options would mean putting out a request for proposals to gauge if there is any private interest in the building as it stands.
“It’s empty now. We appreciate that anything that happens down there would be a bonus to the community, but the project, as announced several years ago, was deferred,” said Huntley.
“We will treat it as deferred, and regardless of what happens with this building, we have an expectation that it would be looked at.”
The building initially housed 14 low-income housing units. It was evacuated in 2012 over safety concerns. At that time, the sitting provincial government said that low-income units would be re-built elsewhere in the city. The plan never materialized, and in 2014, the provincial government said the site would most likely become seniors’ housing. The current provincial government said it would follow through with a plan to build a 20-unit seniors’ housing complex on the site, but that project has since been deferred.
“What we wanted to make sure of is that if a different sort of usage was to happen with 4 Hemlock, that obligation that’s presently in place, it hasn’t been cancelled, only deferred … [Senior’s housing] is a need in our community,” said Huntley.
Manitoba Housing said more information will be available on plans for the property over the coming months.
