Landmark restaurant ravaged by metal thieves before former owner can sell kitchen equipment

former owner of Curry’s restaurant says city staff haven't done enough to secure the property from metal thieves. CTV’s Daryl Newcombe explains.

After 40 years, Curry’s restaurant was forced to close last fall when the property was expropriated for the bus rapid transit route on Wellington Road. But the former-owner believes London City Hall needs to do more to secure the area from an onslaught of break-ins.

Metal thieves and scavengers have made the process of clearing out equipment from his beloved restaurant even more disheartening for Pramod Kukadia

“Six out of seven days in a row we’ve come in, [they’ve] broken into a different door. Damage is everywhere,” Kukadia told CTV News during a tour of the building.

Copper wire and pipes have been ripped from the walls and ceilings of every room, and the electrical panel is gone.

Some of the commercial kitchen equipment he was in the process of selling has also been destroyed.

“They damaged everything in the sink. So, we can’t really sell the sink anymore,” he explained. “They totally ripped apart the walk-in cooler and freezer compressors for $20 worth of copper!”

And the situation has proven to be dangerous.

A contractor discovered a person inside the former restaurant one morning, and Kukadia discovered three large knives that were forgotten by metal thieves as they made their get-away.

“You don’t know what you’re going to run into,” he explained. “We don’t want to get into a physical confrontation with somebody.”

The former restaurant is one of three commercial buildings in the area acquired by city hall but not yet demolished to make way for the road widening.

The other buildings also show indications of metal theft.

“The city should know how to deal with this. They’re dealing with these kind of properties all over the place, not just this one. Property safety and security should be of importance to everyone,” said Kukadia.

The City of London tells CTV News that it uses a variety of measures to maintain the safety of properties that it’s acquired.

“They have some security [guards] coming around, but maybe not enough. They’re just here for maybe three or four minutes and they’re gone.” Kukadia said.

Kukadia must have all his remaining equipment and belongings removed from the building by the end of March.