Recently news came out that the two properties at 801 and 819 Ouellette were sold, and are being prepared for demolition.
I went out and shot them the other day, the buildings are probably best remeberd as Joker’s Bar and Mother’s Pizza. I figured the Joker’s building was from the 1930’s with the Mother’s building a fair bit older…
Needless to say, I was shocked to discover that neither were present on the last fire insurance map, meaning they both came later than 1937.
So off to the Library I went to go digging through old directories.
The former Mother’s Pizza building at 819 Ouellette was built in 1939.
It was home to an A&P Grocery Store from 1940 – 1975. The building is shown as vacant in 1976, and as Mother’s from 1977 – 1992. The 1993 directory shows the buiding as vacant, which it has been ever since. As for A & P closing, I think the A & P on Goyeau opened around 1975, so the store likely moved to a new space on the former Patterson Secondary Site, rather than closing. Today it is a Food Basics.
A & P 1940 – 1975 Vacant – 1976 Mother’s – 1977 – 1992 Vacant – 1993 – 2007
The building at 801 Ouellette was built sometime between 1953-1957. When I was at the library the directories from 53-57 were missing. There was nothing in the 52 directory and the building was listed in the 58 guide.
It was built as the Archibald Rose Furniture Company. They moved from a location on Sandwich St. This might have been when building were being cleared on the north side of Ouellette Ave. for Dieppe Park. c. 1954-55. In the mid 60’s (more missing directories) it became a Leon’s Furniture store (maybe Rose was bough out?), Then a Mac’s before becoming Jokers.
A. Rose Furniture – c. 1955 – c 1966 Leon’s Furniture – c. 1966 – 1984 Mac’s Convienience 1984 – 1991 Vacant – 1992 Joker’s 1993 – 2005 ? Club 801 – 2006 – 2007
The pictures speak for themselves, but it’s a rather handsome structure. Great brickwork too. It will be a huge loss to the downtown streetscape. More loss of density.
A HDR shot of the former A&P/Mother’s Building at 819 Ouellette.
A HDR shot of the former Joker’s building at 801 Ouellette.
Wasn’t there a billiard upstairs or at the back of the former Jokers building closer to Pelissier St. ? If i’m not mistaken I think it was called Gilly’s Cue.
Good work. I like the metal wrap-around detail. I wonder what will go there? Otherwise, it’s not that impressive of a structure. If something really nice goes there, maybe it will be an improvement. If it’s a Tim Hortons, then maybe not so much.
I guess it’s just good to see someone interested in doing something there, rather than 2 vacant detriorating buildings, vandal targets, etc.
Great! I am sure they will build a building or plaza that is set away from the street with parking in the front. You know how well the city planners do when it comes to actually planning something.
The directory didn’t mention Elliot’s on the Avenue? It was certainly there.
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I always wondered what was on the 2nd floor, behind all that glass block. Maybe somebody can get in and take a snap before it goes.
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From Mothers to Wyandotte, it was one of Windsor’s better streetscapes — and a variety of styles. The WUC building was one of Windsor’s best, and even the apartment tower had a bit of 1960s/70s elegance to the lobby area.
Shawn, I didn’t see it listed. However to be fair there were a few years missing, and it never listed a second floor tennant. I doubt that there was a 2 floor mac’s. Maybe it was during the Mac’s era or towards the end of the Leon’s era?
The old A and P on Goyeau opened in the early 1980’s. I’m pretty sure of it because I was in high school and I remember reading the story in the Windsor Star. It was the first major development by Charles Mady.
I have distinct memories from about 1984 or 5 or 6 of sitting in the window with my mom when she took me to Elliot’s. Maybe some on the board will remember the dates Elliot’s was open better.
Perhaps Macs was on the corner, and Elliot’s was just the glass window part of the building, thus Macs got the listing in the directory.
I love those old books though — they have the Windsor ones up here in at the Toronto Reference Library as well.
I distinctly remember the Mac’s Milk being there and shopping there, having worked on that block around the same time, and as I recall the Mac’s did not occupy the whole first level, just the front corner. So yes, Shawn, that sounds reasonable, and I would even go one step further and suggest Elliots *may* have been postally listed as being on Elliot, not Ouellette.
I think John might have nailed it… It could have had an Elliott address…
Also, per a Facebook group run by a local who worked there, “Bar (Dirty Rascals) opened in Sept 1990 was sold and name changed to Jokers in 93 and then eventually closed few years later”. He should know, Brian worked there spinning discs.
We seemed to have cleared all that up nicely.
I’ll be sad to see the building go — not terribly special, but those lines and form are rare in Windsor. Plus the carbon waste of tearing down a building that could be reused and/or opting to fill in one of the many area parking lots instead.
i remember going to that corner for a new years party in the late 80s, or 1990 with my girlfriend and friends. forget what it was then. i seem to remember it as a furniture store from when i was younger too since my parents were always going shopping for furniture downtown at places like where the fish market is now, or cadillac jacks…? i forget the locations downtown. even where the old teppermans was on ottawa. there used to be so many furniture stores around here. i remember going to that mothers too… got a photo of me in there somewhere around here i think.
Well I think if one were to untackify the exterior of the first level, and do something not half-assed with the big sign, it would be really sharp and might I say unique presence on Ouellette ave. If you view it from the waist up, it’s not at all hard to look at.
I worked as a busboy at Jokers and 801 for a few years starting in 2002. It’s going to be sad to see the old place get torn down. Lots of memories in that building. Beautiful HDR shots by the way.
Agreed. What’s the deal with the grossly beige painted woodwork on the first level? Was it originally naturally stained and varnished woodwork until someone painted over it?
When they had it up on the market, I always thought that some smart entrepreneur would have turned both buildings into some giant liquidation/discount store like Honest Ed’s in Toronto. That’d be cool if we had something like that in downtown. Canada Salvage used to be in downtown, but it was way too small compared to what someone could do with these two buildings.
Thanks Josh.
What’s upstairs?
I lived in that neighbourhood in the mid ’80’s and I’m almost positive you entered Elliots from Ouellette Ave. There may have been a side entrance through a patio across the street from WUC.
Upstairs was pretty much empty when I was there although the owners had a couple of offices up there. Once you see the upstairs, you see how truly big the building actually is inside. I think it would have made a great arcade/bar/restaurant. It is something that Windsor is sorely lacking and I think that building was perfectly suited for something like that.
I talked to an older guy I know about the painted beige woodwork exterior on the main floor of 801 if it was naturally stained and varnished wood originally and he said it’s all brickwork like on the second floor underneath the woodwork and they just covered it up with wood. When I look at the door on Ouellette St., I notice the brickwork on the left hand side. What a bunch of tards. Can you believe they would cover up that nice brickwork with beige painted boards? I don’t know what’s worse–using vinyl siding or painted boards to cover up brickwork. I guess it won’t matter much now anyway since it’s all coming down.
DOH!
Another option if the owners think the brickwork looks too dated to lease out would be to cover the brickwork on both building with smooth cement to make it look like a true streamline modern like the Fish Market building on Pelissier and University. Anything is better than seeing it demolished and turned into another parking lot.
Wait a sec, Fishmarket building is on Pelissier and Wyandotte.
What’s the story behind the Fishmarket building anyway? That’s such an awesome looking building.
Last time I was inside it I got the distinct impression it was falling apart.
Different Fish Building.
The A&P on the Paterson school site opened in the late eighties, stumbled into oblivion and was converted to the green monster, Basics in 2002.
When I was a student at St. Anne’s H.S. in Tecumseh, there was a teacher there was was part owner of Joker’s I never stepped foot inside the building, however. It’s 2013 now and it’s still just a gravel parking lot. I forgot what the building looked like. For some reason, I remember it being much uglier and smaller. I don’t recall it going to the back of the block. And I don’t remember Mother’s Pizza at all. It was before my time.
If that building is located on the South west corner of Ouellette and Elliot then it was Leon’s Furniture. My grandmother lived in the apartment right across the street and I remember back in the early 60’s that there was a Mario’s (?) restaurant on the other corner. There was also an Arby’s restaurant just south of her building on Ouellette. Patterson High School was a block east. I can remember all of these placements because I moved away from Windsor in 1971 and my memories of the city are like a photograph of that time. The few times that I have visited the city recently and have had occasion to see the down town area, I am really really sad. It is so ghetto and I think that the building of a casino to “buck up the economy” are the worst things that could happen to this wonderful city.