A big uproar took place the other week, when a methadone clinic popped up in the former Bank of Montreal Building on University Avenue West.
I thought the building was designed orignally by Johnson-McWhinnie, but I can’t find the date of construction on my list… I can however find a listing for an addition and alteration to the bank in 1968, by the firm.
The photo above was taken just last week…
… Yesterday I got an email from a reader who suggested I go by again… This was taken yesterday.
Have a good weekend everyone, and if anyone notices anything out of whack with the new look, please let me know…
Oh just wonderful! They’re stuccoing over perfectly good brick. I’m guessing you got some kind of cease and desist legalese order that lead to the retraction in your last thread and your being pc here so I’m gonna say no more about what I think about stucco and companies that use them to save you some grief.
I was walking around Chatham earlier today thinking that that was the last city whose downtown would be saved from the plight of stucco and noticed them stucco’ing over an old Victorian office building with perfectly good and not too long ago cleaned orange brick next to a nice Victorian house at 199 Wellington, it was probably 197 Wellington. It just made my stomache turn. And now I see they’re doing it to brickwork in downtown Windsor again. Damnit!
Not at all… I had a visit from a very upset contractor though, who though the quality of his work was being questioned…
I don’t care how it’s done, and I’m sure that some are better than others, but it’s still stucco…
Cripes more stucco. When will this end? Do we not have ANY guidelines in this city? There is NOTHING wrong with the brick veneer on that building at all. Other than what i think is a limestone foundation, which needw a good washing this building is in good shape. These people (OATC) really are an detriment to this neighbourhood
Andrew the site looks a bit wonky. The background is now white but the borders and positioning of the photos is off.
I agree with ME. The bright white background is a bit harsh on the eyes… especially to tired eyes. The new look is good but I found the old one quite pleasing. Perhaps you should run a mini contest and let readers vote?
Also, I miss the “Categories” list.
On another note, hopefully the weather will co-operate and be favourable for the air show this weekend.
All stucco is terrible no one should ever buy it and I don’t care who does it, it’s all cheaply done. Stay away.
I think they just want to fit into the neighbourhood, University Ave. has a lot of buildings that are stucco. But hey, maybe one day this building will look as good as the LAGOS CAFE next door!
David, I can’t speak to the quality of work of any one stucco contractor over another but you and all of us are entitled to our opinion of the esthetic value of stucco. And just as property owners are entitled to “renovate” their properties within the confines of local building code, etc., we are entitled to our opinions of their impact on our community. If some of us don’t like Windsor looking like Disneyland, then that’s our right to express that.
I’ve known Andrew for almost ten years and I can say with confidence that he honestly cares about our city and what shape we will be leaving it in for future Windsorites. Past generations have torn down our built heritage or clownified beautiful historic buildings that can now only be enjoyed by viewing old photographs of Windsor. All he and others want to do is stop the bleed.
JBM – I think I dropped the categories list because it made the sidebar really loooooooong….. However, I’ll stick it back in there this weekend. I’ll play around with it, and see if I can come up with something less stark than the white. 😉
Randolph, I’m sure you’re right. The Lagos Cafe is something to strive for…
Well, at least we know there are some businesses that aren’t hurting these days – methadone clinics, and the stucco industry. This very corner on University may be the pinnacle of employment for our city.
Hubby and I were at the west end yesterday and were looking at the Ambassador Plaza stucoo work. It was not done that long ago and is cracking and peeling and miserable looking already. Don’t know who did it and I do not care…but the point is brick SO MUCH better long term. Stucco is temporary. It’s like putting a bandaid over a bleed.
Very true D. There’s another one in bad shape too, that I’m going to share next week…
BTW, this site doesn’t look quite right using the Camino web browser.