An open letter from CUPE 3906 shares graduate student tenant's concerns about poor living conditions in McMaster's new downtown residence building

In Sept. 2023, McMaster University's new graduate student residence on 10 Bay Street opened to tenants. This is McMaster’s first graduate residence and was first announced in 2021. The residency was announced to follow a phased occupancy model, which allows students to move in gradually while construction continued on incomplete sections of the building. 

In Dec. 2023, CUPE 3906 released an open letter by newly ratified Tenant Working Solidarity Group which called on McMaster Housing Services to address their concerns with the new residency. Concerns in the open letter included issues with water quality, privacy invasion, noise issues, and bug infestations. 

Alessandra Fracassi, Masters of Science in Psychotherapy program, shared her disorganized move-in experience. Fracassi stated that her family waited over five hours in the lobby of a different building before being allowed to move in. Fracassi also described noticing incomplete ceiling construction in areas of the building once let in.

“It was like five or six hours that we waited until the room was supposed to be ready. And we kept asking for more details [on] what was going on, it was all very chaotic. Nobody was giving us a clear timeline of what was going on. So we weren't sure if we should just leave or stay or how much longer it would be,” said Fracassi.

One of the most discussed concerns with the residence building has been the water quality. In early December, several media outlets began to report on findings of coliform bacteria in the water of the residency. 

Both Fracassi and Lujayn Mostafa, a student in the Masters of Science in Psychotherapy program, said that they became aware of issues with their water in Nov. 2023. Both shared that even with multiple flushings of the building's water line ??what does this mean is it make more sense now? i canlink websites to these ways to clean the water and water chlorination, the issue remains. Mostafa shared that she wishes more information could be disclosed to residents on the water contamination and the plan to solve this issue. 

“They're not really saying much about what their strategy is for dealing with it except for they've said that they've flushed the water, lots of times from the building. But that doesn't seem to be solving it because it keeps going up. So clearly, the source must be kind of ongoing,” said Fracassi.

Elliot Goodell Ugalde, CUPE 3906 TSWG Co-chair and graduate student in the political sciences department at McMaster, shared that the ongoing water issues have led to a tenant being hospitalized.

“We're currently experiencing a coliform outbreak in our water supply. There has been one tenant who has been sent to the ER, they've been hospitalized, presumably as a consequence of this coliform outbreak. Luckily, they're doing better now they're on a variety of antibiotics,” said Ugalde.

Ugalde confirmed that McMaster has still not publicized the results of approximately four water contamination tests which came back with safety concerns. He shared that he hopes McMaster begins to take active steps to prioritize the health and safety of the residents.

In a statement to The Silhouette on Jan. 10, 2024, McMaster confirmed that there are coliform bacteria levels in the residency water, however that it is not critical to the resident’s health. They stated that they are providing students with water bottles.

Fracassi, Mostafa, and Ugalde commented on this, stating that they have been provided water jugs meant to be shared amongst students for all tasks that require water, including cooking and self-hygiene. Ugalde expressed that these jugs are being shared between all the students on a floor, which can include upwards of 40 tenants.

Knightstone Capital Management Incorporated, the management team of 10 Bay Street, has not responded to our inquiry about the ongoing issues. Ugalde shared that upon trying to initiate communications, CUPE 3906 union representatives have had a difficult time airing tenant concerns with McMaster and Kingstone building management.

Ugalde detailed that building management constantly asked for certain CUPE to speak with them privately as tenants rather than discussing issues openly with all tenants within the union. Furthermore, CUPE 3906 representatives have not felt McMaster has make an effort to facilitate open discussion about the status of the building. 

“They have [reached out], but it's not a dialogue. It's this isn't a conversation that the university is willing to have with us as a collective at this point, which is frustrating that they won't sit down with us and actually discuss these issues in the collective front,” said Ugalde. 

The union hopes that going forward, McMaster University will have an open conversation and allow tenants to be made aware of the safety of their living conditions.

This is an ongoing story.

Sam Colbert

Managing Editor

If all goes according to plan, the transition will be seamless.

As it normally would, the Phoenix will close for the holidays after December exams. When it reopens for second term in January, the Pheonix will be in its new location on the main floor of the Refectory building, above Bridges Café.

“We’ve been working on this project for three years,” said Jessica Merolli, president of the Graduate Students Association (GSA). In the same way that the MSU owns TwelvEighty, the not-for-profit Phoenix is owned by the GSA.

The renovation will be funded by graduate student fees, which means that prices will generally be unaffected.

The new location will feature a higher capacity, a larger patio and an expanded kitchen. But given the success of the Phoenix in its current Wentworth House location, project managers have tried to maintain the rustic feel that differentiates the bar from other campus establishments, like TwelvEighty.

“We’re building on the older feel,” said Merolli. “It’s not a modern-looking restaurant; it’s kind of that mix, like a gastro-pub. We really want to keep the pub element of the look of the Phoenix.”

Though the new kitchen will allow for more specials and menu additions, the Phoenix menu won’t change drastically in the move. Burgers, for example, will continue to be a staple, especially with the addition of a charbroiler to the kitchen.

“We’re still going to have the microbreweries on tap – we’re still going to have a lot of beers on tap, a lot of variety,” added Merolli. “When we went into the project, we knew that these are the kinds of things the Phoenix does really well, and we want to continue to do them really well.”

Even since the 1980s, there has been discussion of demolishing Wentworth House. With the Phoenix and other organizations gradually moving to other locations, it looks like the building is finally on its way to being torn down.

“It’s important for the Phoenix to get a permanent space on campus. We’re taking over the space, and it’s not like Wentworth House, where you can never get a straight answer of what’s happening to that building … so it’s nice to have a building that can’t be torn down, because [the Refectory] is a heritage building.”

Originally, the Refectory housed the campus cafeteria. More recently, the space has been used for exams, among other things, while being reserved from any permanent use in anticipation of the Phoenix move.

Along with the bar, the Graduate Students Association offices are moving out of Wentworth House and into the Refectory building. But, because the GSA move would interfere with the operations of Bridges, they will wait until May, when Bridges closes for the summer.

A big priority for Merolli has been moving the bar and the offices to a wheelchair-accessible location. “There are grad students that can’t get to our office which is, for me, unacceptable. It is a lot of money to be spending, but I’m excited to set up the GSA as an organization that is accessible,” she said.

Merolli is a fourth-year Ph.D. student in political science. She’s been President of the GSA for two and a half years, and the project started just before her three-year term did. “It’s really nice to see that it is actually happening.”

There is a chance that the move from one location to the other, which will require transport of the point-of-sale system, among other equipment, will spill into the first week of second term. A second debit/credit machine will likely also be added to accommodate the extra patrons. Though, because major renovations will be complete, the move won’t take long.