'It's an eyesore': Residents slam delayed demolition of former motels near Canso Causeway

CBC

9 hours ago

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Two former motels on opposite sides of the Port Hastings rotary are providing a less-than-welcoming backdrop for Cape Breton visitors and local residents alike.
The Causeway Inn, located just above the rotary, and the Skye Lodge, on Highway 4 just outside it, were purchased in 2021 by entrepreneur James Cha, who intended to reopen both buildings in 2023.
Earlier this year, Cha sold the buildings to Nova Scotia Public Works, which plans to demolish them as it prepares to open a new roundabout in Port Hastings.
But two months after the sale, Port Hastings residents and the local fire chief are complaining about rodents, vandalism and trespassing concerns that have arisen while the province navigates the tendering process for demolishing the buildings.
A number of residents got a look inside the former Causeway Inn as Cha was planning to hand over ownership to the province this spring.
Residents decry rats while tourists bemoan decrepit building
John and Maggie Fraser, who live up the hill on Old Victoria Road, say the building was not cleared of its beds or linens, lamps, clock radios, or supplies for its lounge and kitchen. Peanut butter and jam were among the foods left in the kitchen, which the Frasers and others blame for the appearance of rats along Old Victoria Road over the summer.
"The motel looks as if somebody walked out of it yesterday," said John Fraser.
"The back door has been broken out and the top windows have been smashed out. So people have been going into that motel."
The inn's decrepit exterior is also an issue for local business owners.
Wendy Larder worked at the building when it operated as a Keddy's Motor Inn three decades ago. She now runs Wendy's AirBnB on Old Victoria Road, and her tenants usually give her a high rating, with the exception of the view just outside the back window.
"It is a question for each guest: 'Why is [the motel] not functioning? Why is it there? It's an eyesore,'" said Larder, who said neighbours have also spotted rats on nearby roads.
'It's gotta come down': fire chief
Crews boarded up the doors and windows of the former Skye Lodge shortly after Nova Scotia Public Works purchased the property.
But the community's volunteer fire chief, James Kavanaugh, feels that incidents of vandalism, trespassing and small fires over the past six months could become larger issues if the province continues to delay its plan to level the building.
"It's scary. There were burnt candles on the inside, there were burnt chairs outside, there was a table there that was burned five feet from the [motel], there were windows taken out," Kavanaugh said.
"I think we're going to be dealing with a major fire there one night."
The chief warned that a blaze at either motel could require the lengthy shutdown of nearby highways, creating traffic snarls that would affect local residents and visitors to Cape Breton, including those bound for the North Sydney ferry terminal.
Port Hastings firefighters and local residents are concerned that the measures taken by public works employees will not keep trespassers out.
"I don't think there's a room in the building that hasn't been vandalized — mirrors smashed, TVs smashed, windows broken, stuff burned," Kavanaugh said.
"There's only one solution for that building — it's gotta come down."
Province says tendering will determine demolition timeline
In a statement to CBC, public works spokesman Toby Koffman did not provide a target date for the former motels to come down, saying that "the outcome of the tenders will determine the timeline."
The department is in the design phase for the Port Hastings roundabout, which was originally slated to be completed by the end of 2025. Last week, Koffman said "work remains on schedule" and the project is now expected to wrap up before the end of 2028.
But the lingering presence of the abandoned buildings and the resulting issues have soured residents like John Fraser, who did not see rats or unsightly premises in his future when he and his wife moved to the community in 2017.
"It's an absolute disgrace coming across the Canso Causeway and the first thing you see is two decrepit hotels," Fraser said.