Early Saturday Morning, the old factory at the corner of Walker Rd and Richmond St. beside the Beer Store, most recently home to the Flag Depot went up in smoke. This view is looking east from Erie and Parent.
By the time I got down there about 7:45, the fire had already been underway for 3 or 4 hours. The entire area was roped off.
A view from Ontario St. looking north on Walker. I’m sure any long time Walkerville resident remembers the McDonald White fire in the late 80’s early 90’s causing the evacuation of the area.
Looking east along Richmond towards Walker Rd.
This shot just goes to show you that living next to a fire station doesn’t ensure your safety. The blue roof belongs to Fire Station #2. The fire was literally 100 feet from the front door of the station.
A few follow up photos from Sunday morning.
The bulldozers were at work removing the shell of the building. Another prominent vacant corner along Walker Rd. in old Walkerville.
A view along the side, shows how close the building was to McDonald-White. A great job by the fire fighters to keep this fire from spreading next door.
A shot from 2006 looking along the Richmond St. facade towards Walker Rd. Long time Windsor business Frank’s Tires, was also located in this building, having moved a few years ago from their location at Wyandotte and Parent.
A view of the Fire Insurance Map from 1937, showing the building as being home to the Universal Button Co. A look though the material I had on hand, shows them in that location as far back as 1919 (the oldest Directory I have available), and likely much earlier.
I think they were still in business in that location when I moved to Windsor in 1989, probably into the early 1990’s at least.
A view from Google Earth, when compared to the Fire Insurance Map shows the office along Walker Rd. received some reconfigurations over the years. Looks like the building was attached to the plant, and maybe shortened, although the Fire Insurance maps weren’t always 100% accurate when it came to the actual footprint of the building.
A pair of photos that were sent along by regular reader Ian Deck. Ian came across the site Saturday afternoon. A view of the corner of Walker and Richmond following the fire.
A view looking north on Walker from Richmond.
Thanks Ian for sending along the photos.
the office was definitely shortened sometime in the last 10 years, i remember it being much, much closer to the macdonald white building
Wow, it’s amazing how much water had accumulated on the roadway by 9am when I got there. I wonder if Asshook Sood owned this place too, since it’s across the street from his Champion Paper/Clean Depot empire. 60 Day freeze or burn down the joint?? Maybe I’m extrapolating that theory a bit, but ya never know on Walker Rd. these days.
When i was going down Walker Road, it looked as if they just moved the opening of the road, as the road infront of fire house still had yellow tape across it, and they forced us down the alley next to the fire house. I heard 1 police officer talking to the fire department, telling them what roads were being blocked off and so forth. It seems weird to say this, but that building looked like it was going to have a fire like this someday, as they building did not look in that good of shape.
We were on the “Big Walk” when this fire was taking place, and saw the smoke all the way from the Ambassador Bridge! It’s strange, as I only live a few blocks from there and didn’t see/smell any fire when I left the house at 7:30 am.
westerntragedy – I heard that it was under that same ownership as Champion Paper, but I don’t know how accurate that is. If that’s true this event would appear a little suspicious to me.
I noticed on the insurance map that the business next door was “Berry Bros Inc”
I think they were also a paint company, based in Detroit with an operation in Windsor/Walkerville. You see vintage ads for them sometimes on Ebay. I wonder if MacDaonald Paint has any family connection? (The fire there was in March 1987 – I remember clearly b/c of other events going on in my life at the time)
Too bad. I liked the Flag Depot. The man there was always very nice. Hopefully he had insurance and can relocate (preferably downtown).
The landscape of Walker Rd will be changed forever. Gone are the old style factories that literally sat on the sidewalks giving us a sense of being a part of our surroundings.
I am sure that the land will be left vacant for many years or turned into yet another parking lot. My sympathies go out to this man and his loss of business.
I agree, it really is a shame that this is lost. Its terribly unfortunate for all of the businesses and individuals who made use of the building and as a result lost everything. It’s also sad that the city has lost another link to its history.
so sad. if we’re not tearing them down they’re burning down
I was on Riverside Drive at 9am on Saturday and the smoke was thick and the air was hot. I didn’t know where the fire was but it seemed pretty bad. No traffic lights at Walker & Riverside (and idiots just burning right through the intersection, of course!) and on the way back at 10:30 still no power. I guess Hiram Walker had a board meeting or something that day and had to find a new location for it as their buildings did not have power.
The office building ran almost all the way to the MacDonald shed (save a couple feet for a gate), but they opened it up to the alley behind about 8 or 10 years ago. As a kid, I used to drop off Penny-Savers there.
Losing these buildings is killing me slowly…Just terrible.
Thank god the architect got his hands on the old power building on the other side of the street, before anything else could happen. If you haven’t seen, his website is http://designstudiogg.com/.
Too bad we’ll have to wait another year before Fast Eddie and his clown crew down at City Hall are gone. With our nation-leading unemployment rate the biggest issue on the local political agenda, the preservation and redevelopment of vacant buildings in the core should be at the top of council’s agenda. Not only does preservation and redevelopment create valuable jobs in the private sector, it will make Windsor more attractive to cutting-edge industries and pave the way for Windsor’s rebirth.
George, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but we’re stuck with them for two more years.
The next municipal election is not until November, 2010.
For the last 41/2 years I’ve been meaning to go to the Flag Depot to get a couple of flags to fly from my balcony. In the yellow pages , their address is listed as 1565 Lauzon Rd. – so I drove out there this morning (Monday) only to find a pick up truck with a sign in the back saying they were still on Walker Rd. A little miffed, I back tracked to Walker Rd. to find the building burnt to the ground. A day late and a dollar short! Had I bothered to glance at this morning’s newspaper, I could have saved myself a lot of needless running around.
That aside, I really feel sorry for those business owners who lost so much in this fire.
to make things worse.. two or three of windsor loud rock bands lost a lot of gear in this fire..
here is a link to “50 watt head” and “lown down” gear photos
http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewPicture&friendID=87724874&albumId=2167497
what a sad day it is….. most of that gear is irreplaceable….
Ryan
i was up at 5am to catch a bus downtown to the big walk for 5:45am but the power went out here just before i was getting dressed to catch the bus. as i walked down the stairs of my apartment a woman said there was a huge fire out there, and when i got outside the sky was black with smoke in the dim light. i called john on my cell phone but got no answer. and listened to my scanner as i was on the bus and arrived at the big walk. so i missed out taking any photos of it.
Shed more tears for a vanishing heritage. The old factories have their own seductive charm and the power to conjure up visions of Windsor’s mighty industrial past. Carefully rehabilitated they can serve multiple uses, provide economic stimulus and continue to embody the unique character of the neighborhoods and districts in which they are located. The Walker Rd area once had great potential for this kind of renewal. With so many recent losses, some accidental, some deliberate, I fear it may be too late. The lack of vision and leadership in Windsor is appalling. Hopefully the ongoing dialogue on this site regarding the future of the city will eventually have some influence in shaping that future.
That building was an eyesore to begin with, the picture posted above from 2006 shows what a dump it was with no significant architectural heritage besides being “old”. Also if it were to be “redeveloped” (i.e. new windows and stucco exterior) everything is done for cheap in Windsor. When was the last time a significant heritage building in Windsor was saved and restored/redeveloped into something like the new Westin Book Cadillac hotel in downtown Detroit? I don’t think it’s a big loss for Walker Road when compared to the Seagrave Building that had potential or the BMO building. Maybe now, if the site is actually rebuilt, somebody can design a good looking building with at least some sort of signifcant architecrual features that may fit in with the Old Walkerville neighbourhood.
…and it will have stucco on the new building. 🙂
Also this fire is now deemed as suspicious according to Windsor Star…who called it?
I have heard from a source within the fire department that Windsor Police and Windsor Fire were tipped off to the possibility of an arson being committed before the fire. Apparently it was expected to occur on or around Halloween.
a friend of mine was in a cab the day after the fire. The cab driver told him that the night of the fire he had a passenger that told him, as they were driving by the flag depot “That building is going to be burned to the ground” a few hours before the fire was started….
now that is scary.
Arrests have been made http://www.windsorstar.com/charged+Walker+fire/1143462/story.html
Hi Ian,
I’m doing research on the Button factory and Dominion Specialties.
These two plants burnt down in June 1930. It was my grandfather that died in this fire.
I am trying to find pics of these 2 companies to go with my family genealogy.
Do you by any change know where I could get some pics, etc.
Thanks