Sweltering residents of N.B. Housing high-rise anxious for fresh air

Some residents of a public housing building in Saint John are frustrated by a lack of fresh air in their apartments and the length of time taking to fix the problem.

Residents of the nine-storey, 96-unit building on Brunswick Drive were told the air circulation system was shut off last month because of work being done on the roof. They were told it won't be back on until next month. 

In the meantime, Richard Northorp said it's been "sweltering" inside his apartment. 

While the temperature outside the building was 19 C on Tuesday morning, inside his apartment it was 29 C.

Northorp said "the heat gets unbearable." 

Resident James Haslett, who's ninth-floor apartment gets a breeze off the Bay of Fundy, said the hallway gets no such relief. 

"When you open the door, the heat hits you right square in the face," said the 63-year-old.

Haslett said he's especially concerned for the senior citizens in the building who aren't as mobile as he is. 

Down on the fifth floor — and on the opposite side of the building — Northorp doesn't get a breeze in his apartment. 

"Oh, the airflow is terrible. I mean, these windows are crap. You can't get air flow in them at all. And now with the air conditioning down makes it even worse. We just swelter in here."

And that's with three fans going.

Rebecca Howland, a spokesperson for Housing N.B., said the building has "an air exchange system that draws in fresh air from the outside and pushes out stale air from the inside. There is no central air conditioning in the building. Vents in each unit function to draw stale air out."

She said the roof is being replaced and the air exchanger "had to be shut off … to prevent the smell from the tar and any other chemicals from travelling through the air exchanger and into the building." 

She said the work is expected to be completed at the end of October.