CITY TO RAZE DUNDAS DRUG DENS

Neighbours are grateful five derelict houses that have been the scene
of drugs and prostitution are to be torn down today

Five derelict houses that have brought nothing but drugs and
prostitution to a stretch of London's east end are to be torn down
today.

The city-ordered demolition on Dundas Street East can't come soon
enough, say neighbours who live and work near the homes between
Egerton Street and Kellogg Lane.

"Everyone is feeling relief. It's terrible -- crack cocaine,
prostitution, just terrible," said neighbour Margie Veitch.

"We don't walk up there, I don't let my daughters walk by (the
houses) and this is a really great neighbourhood," she said of her
own block around the corner from the five houses, that have had no
tenants for months but have often been occupied by squatters,
according to city bylaw enforcement staff.

Veitch said "everybody is great and friendly" in the neighbourhood,
even offering pushes for those stuck in the snow, "but you can stand
right here on my porch and watch drug deals going on at the corner
three or four times a week."

Since 2004, London police have been to the properties 174 times over
issues related to drugs, trafficking and prostitution, the city says.

The homes were single-family dwellings changed into rental units and
have been deteriorating for years.

It's been a concern to Ward 4 Coun. Stephen Orser, who's advocated
for their demolition as part of his mission to help revitalize
London's Old East Village.

"They have been a hornets' nest for trouble, and people in Ward 4
complain about them constantly. They are very unsafe, and on the
stage of collapse," he said.

Last October, the city issued demolition orders for 1039, 1041, 1043,
1045 and 1047 Dundas St. The few remaining tenants were ordered out,
said city bylaw enforcement manager Orest Katolyk.

Katolyk and Orser declined to name the landlord for the properties,
but both noted the Bank of Nova Scotia is the mortgage holder and is
paying for the demolition.

"I am happy because it is too dangerous for people to walk around
there," said Long Duc Ngo, who owns Vietnam Restaurant across the
street.