From December 1928:
PROPOSED ROYAL WINDSOR HOTEL
This building was to be the tallest hotel in the British Empire. Designed by O’Dell, Trace & Diehl, it was to be part of the Royal Windsor Complex. The Apartment Building (still standing) and Garage (demolished) were the first two phases. This was to be the third and final part. It was to be located at the vacant Southeast corner of London (University) & Dougall.
Why did these buildings never get off the drawing board? Did they instead decide upon an uninspired building to be erected on the outskirts of town.
Blame it on the homegrown credit unions and money lenders like WFCU. They only offer easy, low risk mortgages to blue chip high paying union jobs. Forget about industry championing luxury buildings and architectural marvels. If you want to do something nice for this city, our homegrown money lenders will only slam the door in your face and insult you to keep this city as a colony of Toronto. Very much unlike Detroit across the river where the money lenders actually believed in their city and the public good instead of making an easy buck! All that upfront cash wasted on architectural drawings. All those dreams from inspired individuals crushed and shattered by our local money lenders. A city with so much potential, but greedy and mundane lenders.
Of all the irrational ramblings you’ve posted to date, this one takes the cake, David.
David If I had to choose between Detroit and Windsor I think I will stay here in Windsor.
Now on another point just admit why you have such hatred to the union and WFCU wait I think I know you applied for a job and you were turned down? you applied for a loan and got turned down because you have now job and bad credit?
I used to like it when this blog was about local history. These comment sections are bordering on youtube territory.
(of course the blog is still great just not some of the commentators)
Never applied to for a UAW job, but they are part of the problem.
WFCU sucks. Yes, they turned me down and that’s why they suck. They’re useless when someone with experience and vision comes to them. I have good credit, experience, and am self-employed. But, hey why would they be any different from any other lender in Windsor. That’s one of the big reasons why this city never grew like Hamilton and London even though they had similar populations 80 years ago. It’s a long local banking tradition from all the way back to when developers tried to get these buildings built.. The 40 storey Guardian in Detroit was built in 1929 along with a bunch of other glorious downtown buldings around this time like the Penobscott. But, you don’t think it had anything to do with the local money lenders. OK, so these guys with vision just wasted all this money in architects’ plans for nothing. You sure make a hell of a lot of sense, John
Blair had to ask, so I had to give him the skinny.
There could be so many reasons why these buildings didn’t get built – maybe the developers got a better deal elsewhere; maybe the site wasn’t appropriate; maybe they didn’t get approval from the local government; maybe someone realized that there were already many hotels in the area and their profit level would be too small; maybe there was something going on in 1920’s Windsor that is long-forgotten that influenced the decision not to build. Even now not every proposal comes to reality in any city – Windsor or otherwise.
However….maybe world events got in the way, I dunno….maybe something like THE GREAT DEPRESSION???!!!
I think the credit unions probably had very little to do with these buildings being built and, I’m not sure, but didn’t credit unions become more prevalent after the 1920’s? – I don’t know for sure – feel free to correct me (….well….most of you)
David, I understand you are upset because the WFCU said “NO” to your application for a loan in the year 2007, but the WFCU had nothing to do with the Royal Windsor, which was proposed in 1928, not being built.
However, if you are willing to entertain a LOGICAL reason why it wasn’t built, you may want to look at events such as the Great Depression.
The Penobscot was built much earlier than the time frame of architectural prosperity in Detroit you speak of, by the way.
John
Penobscott and Fisher were built in 1928. Guardian 1929. The David Stott Building 1929. The First National Bulding with the beautiful granite and marble lobby was built in 1930.
The third building in Windsor was proposed in 1926 and never got off the ground. What does that have to do with the depression??
Jane. Nope. 1) If they were looking for a better deal, they wouldn’t have wasted all this time and money on architectural plans, proposals and advertising; 2) Again, if the site wasn’t appropriate, they wouldn’t have wasted this kind of money beforehand–come on, you think entrepreneurs are stupid or something??; 3) the local government would have gotten tax dollars and normally went out of their way to see these projects through–building #3 was already talking about getting the city leasing a couple of these floors, and architects aren’t gonna start churning out stuff that would never meet local code–it would ruin their reputation; 4) profit? Come on, the market research would have already been done long before all these soft costs such as architectural drawings and advertising were invested and the area was booming–Detroit had 1.6million people by 1930. Building #3 was proposed in 1926, long before the depression. And the depression didn’t hit the areas around Detroit as hard as the business leaders kept it moving with economic activity. By 1930, Detroit produced more cars than the rest of the world combined. Did we get some of that spinoff?? Even up to the 1970s, business leaders in Detroit got together once again to try to make the city great after the riots destroyed the city, e.g, new construction projects like the Renaissance Centre organized by Henry Ford II and 50 other business leaders as well as other local banks like Commerica. That kind of teamwork and vision for Detroit by business leaders never really happened here because the local lenders here only thought about themselves and not the public good and turning this city around. That’s why downtown Windsor sucks right now!
David, these buildings were proposed between 1926-1929.
The depression started in 1928-29.
WFCU denied your loan app in 2007.
Do we have to explain this to you using visual aids or something?
Thanks John, I just don’t have the energy.
No, John, you just have to pay attention and comprehend. The local banking culture and attitude today is the same as when these buildings were proposed in 1926-1929. Nothing has changed over the years. Shall I slow down?? The… local… banking… culture……….
The credit union turned down my application for a car loan when I was seventeen. That’s why it’s their fault the auto industry is collapsing now.
David, you don’t know anything about the local banking culture of today, and even less about what it was like 70-80 years ago. If it were otherwise, you’d have had your loan approved by now and operating your “business”, instead of responding to every post on this site desperately trying to tie in whatever the subject is with your grudge against the WFCU and/or CAW.
Dan, I got turned down for a Canadian Tire credit card when I was 22, that’s why the downtown location closed. 😉
David those building plans were in 1926-1929
FYI WFCU opened for business in 1941
Oh, ok, I see. So you union guys think that when someone with vision wants to build grand buildings and champion this kind of architecture for Windsor that they just pull money out of the sky. No, local banks and credit unions have absolutely nothing to do with lending the money to see these buildings get built. I guess all the grand buildings in Detroit, Toronto and Montreal were built using money that just materialized out of thin air. Maybe they all had their own printing machines and printed their own money, but the guys in Windsor didn’t know how to build their own printing machine. That’s it. Wow, you union guys are just soooooo smart.
David, why don’t you and George check out autoworker.net. It’s a forum dedicated to autoworkers and union issues. It is definitely a more fitting forum for you to spout off about your hatred of all things union. And you can still use this blog to talk about local history and architecture! Everybody wins.
wow david and george its idoits like you are the reason why windsor is hurting so bad.your white collar jobs wont protect you forever.autoworkers have worked thier asses off to making a good living while morons like david and george sit in a desk all day talking about how bad unions are. isnt this a website about local history not about unions?david and george dont think it is. HUNGRY YET? EAT YOUR TOYOTA!
wow david i read your comments on this post and you talk like you are a 5 year old poor baby does the big bad unions scare you?
These renderings look great, but a lot of projects never get beyond this stage. Why would Windsor need all this hotel space, even if some of these projects were built? I’m not being sarcastic, I just wonder what would bring people to Windsor on a regular basis in the 20s and 30s to require this much hotel space. Wouldn’t places like the Book Cadillac compete with these projects too? It’s not like East St. Louis is on the other side of the river. At the time, a growing prosperous Detroit was competing for guests with these projects. Detroit, Paris of the Midwest, remember?
It nice to dream and wonder what could’ve been, but these buildings would likely be in bad shape now if they were built. It would be nice to have a skyline that didn’t follow Riverside drive as much, but extend inland a bit.
No, I think it’s uneducated idiots like you, Paul, who keep this city down and hurting so bad. If it wasn’t for entrepreneurs and their initiative and vision, you wouldn’t even have a high paying autoworker job. I think a politibureau in communist Cuba or Vietnam would love the way you talk and welcome you with open arms. You should move down there.
And, yes, the big bad unions do scare me, Paul, when I think about what’s going to further happen to this city down the road, which they are partly to blame for. What’s that? This morning’s Windsor Star said that the axed Pacifica at Windsor’s Chrysler plant is gonna cost another 1,000 jobs in the Windsor area. I didn’t hear about any layoffs at the Toyota plant in Cambridge Ontario. Oh, but Buzz Hargrove absolutely will not accept a two-tier wage system like the UAW did in the US. Bring it on, Buzz. Windsor can handle it because we have morons like Paul championing the CAW in this city.
But, hey, CAW doesn’t take all the blame for Windsor’s plight. A good chunk of it goes to local money lenders like WFCU for all the vacancies in downtown.
And, no, I’d never drive a Toyota. My current car is made by GM. I still buy North American. Besides, if I drove a Toyota in this city, one of you guys would key it. And chance would probably have it that it would be done by you. So, keep keying those cars Paul, you’ll never find mine.
Now, now children… 🙂
My wife drives a GM and guess where it’s made? North Korea. But’s it’s considered more North American than a Toyoto made in Woodstock… Go figure…
JB, while it seems silly now, there was a need for the hotel space in Windsor. Back then, business was booming, and many US companies had factories in Windsor, which in turn gave them access to the whole British Empire. It was for more for business than for pleasure.
I’d like to change the subject a bit if i can. With tourism being hammered by the high value of the loonie and Casino Windsor losing business to Detroit casinos, what will we do with all the vacant hotels that are no longer patronized by American gamblers? Does anyone see the Hilton or Radisson finding other uses like luxury condominiums or will vacant high rise buildings be allowed to decay until they are no longer structurally sound and have to be razed?
This loonie situation won’t last forever. The Canadian dollar will tank again soon enough and go back to normal, and the Americans can resume the Monopoly Money jokes about our dollar, and everything will be good again. 🙂
That may be true but almost every building outlives the purpose it was designed for. Old factories are converted into loft apartments, houses become museums etc. It’s only a matter of time before everything built either finds a new use of it gets torn down. The problem with nearly everything that’s being built today is that they are designed for only one purpose and when their usefulness ends they end up being abandoned or torn down. Wal-Mart is a good example of what I’m talking about. Every Wal-Mart ever built was designed to have a useful life of ten to twenty years after which they become so decrepit that they can only be abandoned or torn down.