Here’s a postcard view from the mid 1960s looking down on downtown Windsor. The Miracle Mart is down there, brand spanking new. What jumps out at me the most is the lack of highrises downtown in the photo. It certainly was a very different place back then.
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In regards to the BMO situation last night, for those that missed out, the building will be coming down. At the end of it all council made a very hard decision to let this one go.
The fact that is wasn’t on the inventory prior to the request for demolition, really put council between a rock and a hard place. The owner of the property threatened to sue the city if demolition wasn’t allowed. Several members of council were prepared to fight, but in the end it appeared that legally the city would end up losing.
While it’s heartbreaking to lose another building, this current City Council has been extremely supportive of matters pertaining to heritage, and I do appreciate their comments and support last night. It’s important to make sure from this point forward that as many buildings that aren’t on the inventory get listed.
Have a look at the current inventory, and if there are any older buildings in the city that aren’t listed please contact me by email or by leaving a message in the comments, and I’ll see that they are addressed. Let’s try and prevent this from happening again.
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Great job by you and Chris in your presentations last night.
You hit the nail on the head by seeking input from everyone in the community. While people such as yourself represent us on the Heritage Committee, we can't expect the Committee to do all the work, especially with the limited resources at your disposal.
This might be a good topic to try out for our next Windsor Blogburst. It's one way that might help raise the issue's profile with more people and encourage submissions.
Andrew, I agree with BBS. It is unfortunate that this building was missed in the inventory. It likely would have been a losing and costly battle to pursue any further. It is unfortunate that the developer was not able to find the means to incorporate this structure in the new development. I guess it would have impacted on parking.
I watched the debate last night with great interest. It also appears that perhaps the criteria for evaluating candidate properties should also be revisited.
It is a shame, but legally,it wasn't workable.
At the minimum, at least this issue will bring forward a complete review of the system, as its a good thing. The current scoring system was put in place in (I believe) in 1975.
Let me understand correctly. Because the building isn't on the heritage list, or any other building for that matter, means that the city MUST o.k. a demolition permit?
If that is the case then every city would have to put every single building building with a lick of architectural value on a heritage list.
I agree that we have some councillors that are understanding of our heritage and also understand the concept of walkable neighbourhoods and those councillors deserve credit. Do you know what the vote was who was in favour of saving and who voted against? Cogeco does a poor job in showing how a vote was taken.
Great try nonetheless to both of you.
By the way I would take the "old" downtown of the photo above than the "new" downtown with all of the high rises and no place to shop.
It isn't legally workable?? Let me get this straight. Coucil can turn stop all of the buildings bridge builder Matty Moran applied for demolition by declaring Sandwich a historical district, but they can't do anything here to save the BMO building? I'm sure there were a bunch of buildings not on the inventory in Matty`s zone. They could stop it if they wanted to. They could even do the same here and turn this section into a historical district. That lawsuit threat is bs. Time to vote for new councilors in the next election. And, didn`t council just open the door for the city to be sued by Matty Moran by being inconsistent here.
Me - Three concilors voted to save the building - Halberstadt, Valentenis & Hatfield. All the others voted to refuse designations.
The legal issue is that the building ower applied for a demolition permit prior to any action being taken on the heritage side. As the building wasn't on the inventory, there was no leagal means to halt the issuance of the permit.
Either way, my prediction is the building will fall, and the Ukrainian Credit union will never move in there. Even if they do, it's a lateral move, and it is just creating antoher vacancy on Ottawa St.
David - Good point. Perhaps stronger protection is needed for Walkerville.
Andrew, is any part of walkerville designated as a heritage district? what are the boundaries?
Fausto - No. It was tried in the early 90s and it recieved huge opposition from the residents.
Currently Sandwich is under study, but the only HCD (Heritage Conservation District) in the city is the block of Prado Place between Wyandotte and Riverside Drive in old Riverside.
The part I don't like in all of this is the fact that whether a building is on the list or not, one of the criteria used in determining whether to demolish or not is the current state of the building. It seems buildings are 'let go' to such a point that the 'poor owner' is favoured in the decision and most often it is the owner's fault that the building has deteriorated. What prevents any owner from purchasing any building whether it is on the list or not and for that owner to let the building deteriorate to such a point that it then becomes a safety hazard, and eye sore, etc.?
Also, there should be better renovation guidelines for all buildings in order to prevent continued application of stucco and unattractive mostrosities...