A sad day for Windsor Saturday as one more piece of our past was lost to the wrecking ball.
As usual of late, a weekend rolls around, and something’s being demolished. Maybe someone out there knows the answer, but why are buildings never demolished during the week?
The Top Hat was one of the few remaining links, back to the days when our Downtown wasn’t set up to only cater to drunk children.
Thanks to Adriano from Windsor Eats for the heads up on the demo.
Photo c. Shawn Micallef
Adriano wasn’t the only one to give me a heads up. Even Shawn Micallef of Spacing Magazine was in Windsor this weekend, when I got a text message from him about the Top Hat coming down.
Photo c. Shawn Micallef
Shawn shot the two photos above, and he sent them to me to share with everyone.
On Monday morning, all was quiet. The Building Eaters were at rest behind the death fences, likely full from their Thanksgiving Dinner.
Irony, at its finest… A Burger King Cup tossed aside into the debris of the Top Hat. As you know, the future of the site is as a Burger King…
Only a few bits remain of the Top Hat. The Tunnel Bar-B-Q, freshly renovated stands out behind, one of the last remaining links to the past, and one of the few downtown businesses with over a half century in the core.
Support what remains, before it’s all gone.
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I'd guess the Burger King is in Hamburg Germany.
There lies the issue. Why do we have to tear down buildings in order to build new ones that don't do anything for the architectural landscape? Chet is right! There will be surface lots and then a large space, another fast food place, surface lots and then space. No wonder the area is looking more desolate and barren; the density doesn't exist anymore!
What a sad plight our downtown is and yet we seem to nly have 1.5 councillors who really give a crap. Halberstadt and Valentinis (to a degree) but where are the other downtown councillors? Why haven't we heard anything about them?
ME - about the old burger king/tunnel plaza. do you have any idea what's to become of goyeau if that takes place? i could only imagine shuting it down with a sidewalk between wyandotte and park, making park st. the enterance. which i suppose is actually a good idea, that intersection can be hell on wekends.
burger king should have just done some serious rehab on the top hat, it's twice the size of the old place and they already have all the black top they need to make it work.
er....i ment making goyeau a 1-way FROM park.
On behalf of the Drakich family we thank you Andrew,the bloggers and the city of Windsor for the fond memories.
When Mike Drakich passed away the family decided to sell, as Mike was the Top Hat and Mary deserved a proper retirement.
Please do not vent your frustrations and anger towards Burger King but towards city hall for their interference in the sale of the Top Hat.
Thank you ,
Sam Drakich
Sam, you are correct that the nager should be towards city hall on that file. However what I am trying to state is that we keep tearing buildings down to bulid anotehr building that will be limited in use. IE: A burger King is built to look like Burger King and if they vacate what else would or could move there? Once again that would fall as well.
As a former patron of the Top Hat I would like to thank your family for great food and memories. Your bread pudding with whisky sauce was the best I have had anywhere and it is truly missed.
Aaron, Goyeau would be essentially closed between Park and Wyandotte (yet another "dead end street leading to no where) with the area being one big plaza (or parking lot due to traffic issues at the US border).
Yes a Burger King is a Burger King .
Saving buildings worth saving is a most noble cause and the promotion of esthetically designed buildings is worth championing The truth of the matter is that no independent is willing to invest in the city,. let alone downtown, thus we are open to more chains.
If city hall had a single living brain cell they should of purchased the whole block plus the properties surrounding the former bus depot to create a park.
I know I am jumping into this conversation a little late, but all this happened while I was out of the country that year. I heard about the Top Hat over the years from my parents and aunts and uncles. When I lived in Windsor for a few years, it was one of the spots I really liked to visit. Such nostalgia! And this is happening all over, not just Windsor.