EDMONTON — On a recent Sunday morning, April Milliken watched from her restaurant as yet another loud, drunken fight erupted in the parking lot of Edmonton's Beverly Motel.
When police arrived at the address they know too well, the combatants began to resist, including one woman whose shirt was wide open, her naked torso exposed to the entire block.
"It was a Sunday morning, you know?" Milliken said as she filled the ice machine at April's Place. "I had to tell customers with children that maybe they didn't want to leave the restaurant quite yet."
This week, when the Beverly Motel was surrounded by chain-link fence and forced to close for a month because of drugs and prostitution, Milliken smiled from ear to ear.
"I'm very excited. It's going to be a good 30 days."
One block away from the intersection where the motel sits, the residents of a seniors' complex heard the news at a tenant meeting.
"There were thunderous claps and applause when I told them," said Manak Dhillon, manager of the complex. "These people were scared to go out at night."
The closure was announced Wednesday by the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Team after a one-year investigation that uncovered drug-trafficking and prostitution among the 17 rooms.
It is the first time in Canada that police have used Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods, or SCAN, legislation to shut down a motel, said Chip Sawchuk, acting manager of the SCAN unit.
"When activity like that threatens the safety and enjoyment of a neighbourhood, (we) will target the problem property and shut it down if necessary, whether it is a private residence or a business," Sawchuk said.
"They were given a chance to improve and they did not. They were turning a blind eye to these activities."
The motel, a two-storey building painted in shades of crusted mustard and faded mint, has long been a problem in the Beverly neighbourhood that, according to residents, has otherwise made positive strides in the past year: increased policing, better sidewalks, flowerpots on the corners.
Edmonton police Sgt. Jason Altmiks, a foot-patrol officer, said the area has become a vibrant one, though still with occasional blights. He isn't sure where the dealers and prostitutes will go, but said disrupting their patterns is a good start.
"Disruption, for us, is a valuable objective. It can be the first step in solving a problem. These are complex issues with no quick fix in sight."
Investigators notified the Beverly Motel about their concerns weeks ago, but police say the illegal activity continued and investigators brought their evidence to a Court of Queen's Bench judge, who granted the community-safety order.
During the closure, the motel owners and one long-term resident, an elderly woman, will be allowed to continue living there.
To avoid a further closure of 90 days, the owners must complete renovations to meet provincial standards, require a credit card deposit and government identification to rent a room and keep a proper guest registry.
For area businesses, there's hope that the 30-day closure will give their customers and clients a break from the prostitution along the street.
At a nearby dental office, patients ranging in age from teenagers to seniors are solicited when they arrive to get their teeth cleaned. And at Widynowski's Sausage House, owner Greg Hawryluk says he sees sex-trade workers when he arrives for work at 5 a.m., and watches them mistake his customers for johns when they park on the street.
"If I had a problem, here in my shop, with cleanliness or something like that, I'd be shut down. It shouldn't be any different for a motel," he said.
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