Days after a teen fell to his death in an abandoned factory, the City of Hamilton says the property owner was in compliance with its bylaws regarding vacant buildings.

On Wednesday, the city said it is “saddened” by the death. “Our thoughts are with the family, friends and community affected by this loss,” it said in an emailed statement. 

“Responsibility for incidents at vacant privately-owned properties rests with the property owner, who is required to ensure the building is secure and maintained in a safe condition,” the city said.

Around 12:30 a.m. on April 4, police officers responding to a 911 call found a man who had fallen through a roof of the old Westinghouse Corporation factory at 606 Aberdeen Ave., Hamilton Police Service spokesperson Jackie Penman told CBC Hamilton Tuesday.

“He was pronounced deceased on scene, and the death is not considered suspicious,” police said in a Monday news release. Police declined to share the name of the man who died, saying only that he was from Hamilton. 

Property ‘has a history of by-law enforcement’

Property records show the land at Aberdeen Avenue and Longwood Road S., has been owned since at least 2019 by a corporation McMaster University controls. The corporation is headquartered at McMaster Innovation Park (MIP).

Videos on YouTube purport to show people exploring the old factory. In one from March, a pair appears to enter through a hole in the fence then a broken window. 

The city told CBC the property at 606 Aberdeen Ave., is an “unregistered vacant building” under Hamilton’s vacant building registry bylaw. In March it said, the bylaw department issued a property standards order and a yard maintenance order “related to the property being open to trespass and general maintenance concerns.”

The order about the building being open to trespass had an April 13 deadline, the city said, noting an April 7 site inspection “confirmed that the property is in compliance with both orders.”

“The property has a history of by-law enforcement over the past several years, primarily related to unauthorized access and yard maintenance. In each case, orders were issued and compliance was subsequently achieved by the property owner,” the city said.

CBC Hamilton asked McMaster when the work to come into compliance occurred and what it involved.

In an email, MIP CEO Gailene Tobin Vandenheuvel only said MIP “responds promptly to any matters” the city identifies.

She previously told CBC Hamilton access to the building “has long been restricted.”

Measures are in place to help secure the site, including boarded entry points, fencing at key access areas, regular security patrols, and signage indicating that access is prohibited,” she said Tuesday. 

Tobin Vandenheuvel did not answer a question about whether this death would lead to changes regarding any of those access restrictions. 

Plans from 2020 show the university intended to develop new campus and laboratory spaces on the former industrial site. McMaster did not respond to a question about what its current plans for the site are.