NEW GLASGOW, N.S. — New Glasgow lawyer and property developer Jamie MacGillivray had hoped to save the final major building standing of the former Maritime Steel in New Glasgow, but says the obstacles to save the building became insurmountable.
The building was demolished this week.
MacGillivray is working to close a deal to purchase the property from its current owners, Marinus Verhagen and Wayne Harris, but it has yet to be finalized, he said.
“I tried last summer to salvage the building,” MacGillivray explained. But there were numerous roadblocks including the roof which was rotten.
“To remove it and replace it was a very dangerous job,” he said.
The walls also had structural issues and there was lead in the glass windows of the building and in the caulking around them.
“It wasn’t viable to save the building as much as I wanted to,” MacGillivray said.
MacGillivray is still hoping to finalize a deal to purchase the property. He said the main priority will be to get the site cleaned up to residential standards.
Several other buildings on the property had been razed in 2018.
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