Saint John is tearing down a derelict building that was gutted by arson last month, even though the cash-strapped city may not be reimbursed by the building’s owner.

Last month, a fire broke out at a Victoria Street building and it took two dozen firefighters several hours to contain the fire, which left seven people homeless.

The building is now vacant and in ruins.

City council has decided to tear it down after trying unsuccessfully to get the property owners to deal with it.

Ward 2 Coun. John MacKenzie said the building is dangerous and he would like to see the structured removed quickly.

“Kids will chase in there after their pets, what have you — they're curious. It's just a bad situation and it needs to be cleaned up,” he said.

The city spends more than $500,000 every year monitoring dangerous and vacant buildings and enforcing its unsightly premises bylaw. The city says these derelict buildings are frequently the target of arsonists and are used in other criminal activity.

The city is monitoring 100 vacant buildings and the caseload is continuing to increase.

The previous city council had set aside funds to remove 15 of these buildings a year. But the city’s financial problems led to budget cuts to many city services.

So, there is only enough money to tear down eight vacant buildings this year.

It will cost about $30,000 to tear down the Victoria Street building with no guarantee of getting the money back from the owner.

The demolition is expected to take four weeks.

Community group wants park space

When the building is finally removed from the street, a community group is concerned about what may be left behind.

Scott Crawford, president of One Change, a community group, said tearing dangerous buildings down is important, but he doesn't want to see empty lots in their place.

"We need to have parks and recreation space We need to have our schools stay in the neighbourhood and be strong,” he said.

“We have to have incentives for builders to build new buildings in this neighbourhood. So that's going to take the province, that’s going to take the city, that's going to take the residents of the neighbourhood themselves."

The Ward 2 councillor is going to try and, at least, partially meet Crawford’s request.

MacKenzie said he plans to ask council for some extra money bring a motion asking for topsoil and grass seed to fill the space once the wrecking ball finishes its work.