Herron seniors' residence, home of devastating COVID-19 outbreak, to be turned into condos

The Herron Residence in Dorval made headlines during the first phase of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 after 47 people died there.

Now, the building is being turned into condos.

It was a site of sadness for so many years.

"What happened here is devastating and should never, ever happen again. It was a failure of the system," said Dorval Mayor Marc Doret.

Years after the regional health authority shut down the site, it was sold and now Logements Urbain is renovating it to create 98 rental units. Yanick Pazzi says they'll range from studio-sized to large apartments, but won't confirm what the rent could cost.

He says the complex also has shared spaces like communal areas and a courtyard, "to break the loneliness that people can have living by themselves," Pazzi said.

Doret says it was a tough decision but city council voted to move forward on this project.

"What happened here during COVID, I think, has left an impact on our community. There's no doubt about it. It's a very, very sad point in history for this building. I think this project will kind of turn it around," Doret said.

Patrizia Di Biase’s mom, Antonietta Pollice, lived at Maison Herron and survived. The family isn’t happy to hear about this rebuild.

"They’re going to have ghosts in there. That's the way I see it," Di Biase said, adding that the most haunting thing is the new name "Utopia."

"Yeah, the Utopia. That’s what the seniors thought they were coming to when they came here."

Pazzi addressed Di Biase's concerns about the project's name.

"We found ourselves a bit courageous in order to take an actual building like this one and be able to do a big transformation. So we needed to be a bit bold about it and that's why we decided it would be a Utopia in order to make this possible."

The Utopia complex is slated to open in the spring of 2025.

"To make sure that we have it actually living again, but in a different way, yet answering the needs that we may have in the neighbourhood that we're in" Pazzi said.

Doret said it's a neighbourhood marked by history, saying that "it's part of the history of the community and I hope that the builders will do something that will support that feeling."

Di Biase said she would like to see a memorial for those who lost their lives.