'It was a white elephant' - Residents joyous over Coleyville property demolition

Patrina Pink, Gleaner Writer

"Dem give him an inch and him take a mile," said a resident of Coleyville Avenue in St Andrew yesterday.

The statement vividly captures the basis upon which the multimillion-dollar structure located at 2 Coleyville Avenue was demolished.

The would-be apartment complex was only permitted two bedrooms by the Kingston and St Andrew Corporation (KSAC), but when the heavy equipment came, the state would be tearing down a mind-numbing 44-room dwelling.

The mega-dwelling was the largest of its kind in the community and an eyesore for residents. Several neighbours were appeased by the sight of the machinery chewing into and spitting out mounds of hardened cement, lengths of steel and marl.

"Yea man. A nuh house dat, a tenement yard. Him build the place with one bag a room like fowl coop. It don't even look good," said one middle-aged female resident. Another slightly older woman said she was glad to see the building go and felt it would have impacted her property value.

"Everybody, especially people coming from foreign, would see it and ask how it stay so lean. Them used to ask if somebody a build supermarket. It was a white elephant," she said.

Several residents voiced concerns about the impact the structure had had on its surroundings. Town Clerk Errol Greene seemed satisfied that the demolition would do the community some good.

"The neighbours suffered immensely from the water coming over. It was overbuilt and when it rained the storm water had nowhere near to go. They had sewage problems," Greene said.

Sad to see it go

However, neighbour Millicent Graham, whose home was directly beside the dwelling, said despite the rainwater and the hurricane season making life miserable, she was sad to see the structure go.

"It's a sad day to see an investment go down the drain like that. I wish they had sorted it out before it got to this point," she lamented.

Graham said that prior to the dwelling's construction, persons littered the open lot and idled there.

"This demolition will do me more harm than good when all and sundry take over," said Graham.

The home was a project of the late Norris Brown. Brown, who did not live in Coleyville, constructed the complex primarily for rental purposes. When he died late last year, his son took over operations. It isn't too clear how many persons lived in the complex prior to its demolition but there was at least one business on its compound. A young cosmetologist operated a beauty salon there and lived on the compound for approximately a year. She said she paid $30,000 for rent each month.

"When I came there, I didn't know that they had gotten notices but I've been trying to leave there for a while," the cosmetologist said.

She noted that despite the notices and the drama of the demolition, her landlord was fair.

"We got a bathroom a kitchen and two rooms to do whatever we wanted."

The demolition is not the end of this legal battle over the property. Greene said the KSAC would be seeking to recover demolition, other administrative and legal costs from the owners. He said rough checks indicate an overall cost of $5 million.