By 2016, something had to be done about all the abandoned buildings. They had become not just a pain in the neck but a danger. They were owned by Faro Real Estate Ltd., but the company was bankrupt and owed millions in unpaid taxes. The city decided to take ownership of the 37 properties — 170 residential units in all — and put them up for sale in 2017, cheaply. Why not? It was either that or spend money to tear them down. Some units went for a few thousand dollars. But there was a caveat – the new owners had to start renovations within three years and bring the properties back into usable condition. In many cases, that would mean spending tens of thousands more to rip out the entire unit, remove the asbestos, and essentially rebuild everything but the frame. Eighty percent of the units were sold within six months. Some people started renovating right away and soon there were some new faces in town. The latest census found Faro was one of the Yukon’s fastest-growing communities, with population growth of more than 26 percent between 2016 and 2021. Tina Freake first moved to Faro from Newfoundland as a teenager in the 1990s with her parents and siblings. Then her parents went to work in the mine.
