After years of fighting to save her home, a North Sydney, N.S. woman’s battle with city council has come to an end via demolition.
Sylvia Dolomont's home was reduced to rubble after the Cape Breton Regional Municipality deemed the house structurally unsound.
The city also received numerous complaints of rotting garbage, debris and mould inside. Dolomont had been accused of hoarding.
Demolition crews arrived after dark Wednesday accompanied by security and police. Moments later, dump trucks carried away years of memories for Dolomont and her family.
“I feel totally devastated,” she told CTV Atlantic Thursday. “I can't believe it’s actually happening, but it is.”
She claims to have complied with every municipal order to have the home cleaned up, and spent more than $50,000 in the process. She had hoped to move back in after it was cleaned up.
While Dolomont knew the demolition was always a possibility, she said the timing of the operation caught her off guard.
“The snakes crawl at night,” she said. “They came in the dark. Sneaky. Why didn't they come in the day? We were here all day.”
Jillian Moore, a spokesperson for the Cape Breton Regional Municipality, says the strange timing came as a result of a scheduling issue with the contractor.
“It was originally scheduled to be demolished Wednesday morning, however the contractor was unable to attend at that time, so we expected it would be Thursday,” she said.
“Later in the day, the contractor was able to co-ordinate for that day that he was scheduled to demolish the house, so it was decided to go ahead in the early evening around 7 p.m.”
With her home now gone, Dolomont says her fight isn't quite finished.
“Now comes the lawsuits,” she said. “I will sue everyone I can that was involved in this.”
Dolomont’s friends are also planning a protest outside city hall in the coming days.
With a report from CTV Atlantic’s Kyle Moore.
