Owner says doomed Elliot Lake mall a ‘white elephant’
Posted July 23, 2013 5:29 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The owner of the doomed Algo Centre Mall said Tuesday he bought a “white elephant.”
Bob Nazarian tells the inquiry into the mall’s deadly collapse last summer that he did what he could to keep the leaking building in good shape.
He says the previous owners gave him no inkling of the poor state of repair the building was in when he bought it in 2005.
Nor did he know, he says, that it would cost millions to fix the leaking roof.
He says he wanted to sue the previous owners but his lawyer advised him against it.
Part of the roof-top parking deck caved in on June 23, 2012, killing two women and injuring several others.
Nazarian has borne the brunt of the anger in Elliot Lake over the disaster.
Nazarian’s son testified last week they plowed money into stop-gap repairs while they tried to sell the mall or raise cash for a proper fix.
However, he said the bank and city thwarted their best efforts to remedy the financially ruinous situation.
