The Albert residence on Pintail Terrace in Chatelaine Village has welcomed Hallowe’en and Christmas display enthusiasts for the over 25 years with elaborate displays that have been enjoyed by young and old alike.

The father-and-son team of Brian and Patrick Albert put in hundreds of hours every year setting up the displays, especially the Hallowe’en display which in the past has in-cluded a haunted house made up of several temporary rooms.

The Alberts have used the display to raise more than $100,000 for the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO), including more than $13.000 last year alone.

Days after they began putting the display away last year they were visited by a bylaw officer saying that the City had received a complaint from a neighbour about the display.

The Alberts didn’t think much of it at the time because they were busy setting up their Christmas display, which like the Hallowe’en display, draws hundreds of visitors to the street every year.

It wasn’t until they received a notice from the City’s bylaw office two weeks ago that they realized they had to make a difficult decision to remove the haunted house or risk getting a heavy fine. Their initial decision was to remove the haunted house, which has been attached to the front of their garage for the past 10 years.

But after making the bylaw complaint and their decision to remove the haunted house public in a Facebook post on July 5.

“We regret to announce the closure of The Albert CHEO Haunted House due to a neighbour’s complaint to bylaw. Bylaw now requires us to remove all buildings associated with the haunted house,” Patrick Albert wrote in his post.

Within the same day the Alberts posted the news, their local city councillor, Matt Luloff, called to tell them that he had successfully asked that the demand to dismantle the house had been lifted in order to allow time to find a potential solution. He also arranged a meeting between the Alberts and repre-sentatives from the bylaw office and the city inspectors’s office.

“Apparently he called the Mayor, and he called the Chief Bylaw Officer and the Chief Inspections Officer,” says Albert. “At least it buys us some time to try and get this resolved.

While the Alberts are hoping to save the haunted house and keep raising money for CHEO, a supporter of theirs has set up an online petition entitled “Save the Albert Family Halloween House”.

In the preamble to the petition, its author, Stephanie Fortin, tried to put into words what a lot of people who have visited the haunted house with their children over the years are no doubt feeling.

“The Halloween House is more than just an event; it’s a symbol of community solidarity and a lifeline for a charitable cause,” writes Fortin.

As of July 15, the petition had collected more than 3,500 signatures. You can add your own name to the list by visiting https://c.org/KMp6mZLRW.