Right next door to the two houses that went up on April 11th, is this old building was built in 1890, and is likely destined for the dumpster.
It was torched on Tuesday night. For coverage of the fire, but sure to visit Windsor Visuals.
Old elements, like the cast iron (?) posts that once divided the display windows on the facade of this old retail store. According to the 1919 City Directory, the shop was home to Meisener & Co, wholesale confectioners (a.k.a. Candy makers).
The fire started at the back as you can see in this photo.
According to the Windsor Star:
Arsonist blamed for University Ave. house fire
THE WINDSOR STAR
APRIL 29, 2009 3:02 PMInvestigators believe the blaze at a vacant house late Tuesday night was the work of an arsonist.
The fire broke out just before midnight in a house at the corner of University and Glengarry avenues. Nobody was hurt. The fire department estimates there was about $50,000 in damage.
Fire Prevention Officer Shawn Boutette said the gas, hydro and other “emission sources” were turned off and an exterior door was open when fire crews arrived.
© Copyright (c) The Windsor Star
I’m not left with a warm fuzzy feeling that someone is running around the area lighting fires. A few years back there was one working on the west side of downtown, as far as I know he was never caught.
Hopefully this guy is, and hopefully the police will keep their eyes open in this area, before someone loses their life.
It would be interesting to know if this building is owned by the same person who owns the two torched houses next door from a couple weeks ago. It might shed a little light on the #1 suspect.
I am assuming this house is in the Glengarry CIP. Strip away all the ticky-tacky add-ons and cheap make-up, and this building would make one helluva revitalized neighbourhood store/coffee shop/third-place. I hope it’s not damaged beyond repair – the photos make it seem to be barely touched by the blaze.
Andrew he was caught, received a light sentence and then started again but then they couldn’t pin it on him. He even started a fire in Caron Ave aparments, a 8 story building.
Wasn’t the Casino supposed to change the fabric of downtown? Wasn’t it supposed to be the saviour of the neighbourhoods where everyone was going to flock and buy up those properties and refurbish or bulid on them?
I guess people can make more money parking cars on muddy lots instead.
Something is definitely wrong with the tax structure and the will to change our neighbourhoods for the better. Is the political will even there? Or will Glengarry get moved to that site or the city centre west lands thus continuing to ghettoize the low income residents who live there giving them no hope for a way out of their plight.
As I recall, the ‘western anchor’, which was conceived decades ago was supposed to revitalize the downtown. In the meantime, an art gallery, some hotels were built and a hole was dug for a failed project. Focus was shifted to the casino development and many structures disappeared, including the market. The arena site (part of western anchor) was relocated to the eastern fringes. Now the western anchor vision has been replaced by a canal vision; this will revitalize the downtown…. right…
The ‘east anchor’ has high potential for some really nice development… retirees, young families, etc. Its a smaller area then the west anchor, so it may be a project worth starting with before things go bad (worse) there. As for the canal project, I’m not totally against it. I think it has some great potential and merit, if done right, and at the right time. This really is not the right time for it. If we can just stop sprawl into the surroundings, and focus on bringing in a variety of housing types in these anchor regions, you have the seeds of a healthy future core.
Deliberately-set fires in three boarded-up houses within two weeks of one another, all directly across the street from the casino. Who stands to profit from this lot being leveled?