Alayne McGregor
A Chinatown lot, which has sat empty for more than 17 years after a tragic fire that cost five lives, may finally see occupants again.
A large sign was recently erected at 816 Somerset West, near Booth, saying that a commercial building with four units would be built there starting this spring. The sign is apparently from OakWood, an Ottawa builder of homes and commercial buildings.
The BUZZ contacted OakWood to find out more about the development, but had not received any response by press time.
Last October, a for sale sign in that lot from realtor Raymond Chin of Coldwell advertised the 50×90-foot lot as mixed use with traditional main street zoning.
On April 5, 2005, an early-morning fire gutted the apartment on the second floor above the Mekong Grocery at 816 Somerset. Five members of the Thach family died in the fire, including three teenagers. Three survived with smoke inhalation and bad burns: Makara Thach was able to save his infant grandson, and firefighters later rescued Thach’s son-in-law. According to a story in The Ottawa Citizen, the family had fled the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia in 1987, and had bought the grocery business in 2001.
In 2006, two Ottawa landlords were convicted of failing to provide a smoke alarm in the upstairs apartment at 816 Somerset and were fined $12,000, according to a CBC report.
The presiding judge pointed out that the provincial fire code required the owners to install smoke alarms and said the owners had to face the consequences of their inaction. She also said this message needs to be heard by all landlords.
The building was left in a burnt-out state for years and was finally demolished in 2009. It had been built in 1901, after the previous building had burnt to the ground in the Great Fire of 1900.