Residents allowed to collect belongings from apartment still closed by the city

Police were on scene to assist residents being forced out of an apartment building at 107 Avenue and 106 Street on Dec. 23, 2024. (Evan Klippenstein/CTV News Edmonton)

Residents of a central Edmonton apartment building that was closed by the city a month ago were allowed back into the building on Friday morning to retrieve belongings.

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Tenants were forced out of the building at 10603 107 Ave. on Dec. 23 after the city’s Residential Inspection Safety Compliance Team (RISC) - a multi-agency team including the City’s Community Standards Branch, Edmonton Fire Rescue Services, Edmonton Police Service, Alberta Health Services and Government of Alberta - determined that it was no longer safe for human habitation.

The city says RISC members were also on site Friday morning, but the building remains closed to residents.

The building is currently the subject of five active Alberta Health Services orders for violations ranging from pest infestations to human feces, garbage and drug paraphernalia in common areas.

Harshandeep Singh, 20, was killed in the early morning hours of Dec. 6 while working as a security guard in the building.

Two people are charged in his death.

Another man suffered non-life threatening injuries in a shooting in the building two weeks before Singh’s death.

The closure order does not impact the six commercial bays on the main floor of the building.