But when the label was sold, for millions of dollars, it began to lay workers off. Over a period of three years more than 1400 workers lost their jobs at this plant, which moved to South Carolina. And then the company closed down permanently. Nothing has been done to collect those taxes or to make the owner take responsibility for demolishing this building. The building has just been left to fall apart - becoming an eyesore and more importantly, a threat to this community.
Children go into the building to play.
Homeless people live in this building. Its just a matter of time before someone is killed because of a collapsed ceiling or wall. Downtown or in the suburbs, something would be done, but sitting here year after year, it's just another reminder that people in Kensington don't really matter. Despite this history of neglect, when a group of homeless families in the Kensington Welfare Rights Union decided to use part of the abandoned lot for a tent city, the police were out in force to prevent them doing so. The director of KWRU and the President of the National Union of Hospital and Healthcare Employees were arrested for trespassing on the property while they were trying to clean up the garbage.