Catching up with residents who’ve returned to Birchwood Terrace after May eviction

It’s been nearly two weeks since residents of Birchwood Terrace were finally allowed back into their homes after being evicted back in May.

While many tenants are certainly happy to be back, there’s mixed feelings about the state of what they walked into.

“It’s gonna take me months to clean it, seriously months.  Because you can’t get all that dust out of there all at once.  It’s all in the air, you can taste it,” said Debby Ross, a nearby resident.

But dust is the least of Debby’s worries. Upon returning, she says there were bed bugs on pieces of furniture, and some of her husband’s clothes were missing.

RELATED:

Birchwood Terrace residents able to return home says the City of Winnipeg

It’s welcomed news for tenants of birchwood terrace in St James neighbourhood, who were suddenly evacuated from their apartment last may. According to the city, the planning property and development…

Birchwood Terrace sits vacant after 250 residents forced to evacuate

What was once the home to nearly 250 Winnipeg residents, Birchwood Terrace now sits vacant, after a recent inspection uncovered severe deterioration in several locations. Creating a nightmare situation…

Mayor says Winnipeg working with MB Gov. to see if policies need change after Birchwood Terrace situation

As dozens of people still try to access their suites and figure out the next steps after being forced to evacuate from the Birchwood Terrace apartments on Portage Avenue, Mayor…

2:43

Residents of Birchwood Terrace still in search for answers after sudden evacuation

Residents of Winnipeg’s Birchwood Terrace remain in a state of shock, demanding answers after they were evacuated from their homes with just 12 hours notice. Not knowing when if ever they will be allowed to return. Kurt Black reports.

Winnipeg testing new alarm system at Birchwood Terrace

The City of Winnipeg will be testing a new alarm system on Tuesday. The alarm will be tested at 2440 Portage Avenue — Birthwood Terrace — between 10 a.m. and 7 p.m.. Winnipeggers in the area will…

“I know that there were people in there, and I know that they had taken stuff.  But to take all my husband’s stuff, all his clothes, it’s an invasion of privacy,” said Ross.

Ken Maines, lives in the building’s penthouse apartment. And while it still required some cleaning, he was quite happy with its overall state. Though he admits, many other building residents he knows, weren’t as lucky.

“Everything was in disarray, it took some time to put everything back together, but you know, it was something I did, and it was no problem really,” said Maines.

“My experience is 100 per cent better than theirs. I know there’s a lot of them out there, I think we have about 51 residents coming back and I know at least 10 that were in the same hotel as me, and they’ve returned back and their places is a whole lot worse than mine.”

CityNews reached out to Ladco, the company that manages the property, but they were unable to provide a comment.