Old Mahood Lumber building set to be demolished next week

The old Mahood Lumber building, located south of the Kincardine Arts Centre and Victoria Park, Kincardine, is slated to be demolished next week.

Developer Keith Battler said workers are gutting the inside while waiting for a demolition permit which should be issued by next week.

The demolition will pave the way for Battler's 30-unit condo development on that property. The six-storey building will include a ground-floor parking lot.

"I expect to have the land cleared by this fall and then begin building in late spring or early summer next year," said Battler who purchased the property nine years ago and first brought his proposed housing project to Kincardine council about five to six years ago.

Battler said the delay was mostly due to the difficult process of dealing with the Endangered Species Act.

"Someone reported that there were chimney swifts in the building," he said. "So, it took three years and $35,000 to get through that process. I'm only the second developer to ever go through that.

"The problem is there are all of these protections for endangered species on the one side of the ledger, but nothing on the other side about how to deal with them. That information wasn't available until later."