Photo © Allison Brown
Happy Friday everyone! Local musician Allison Brown, sent along this photo she took from the top of the Chatham Street parking garage looking over the old Norwich Block. As Allison pointed out, so many cool businesses in that block.
I personally used to regularly visit South Shore Books, The Beans Cafe, the Spotted Dog, who didn’t spend time at Fast Eddies?
Big thanks to Allison for sharing the picture with us.
Have a good weekend everyone, see you back here Monday.
I’m not sure how many hours and how many quarters
I spent at Fast Eddies. Does anyone remember the
Restaurant called the Cheshire Cat ? It was
In the lower level of one of the middle buildings.
Used to go there for lunch in the early 80’s.
The Chesire Cat rings a bell.Years before there used to be a restaurant called Spats. Kinda upscale and if I remember correctly, it was in the basement of the building located next to Elias Deli. After dinner at Spats you could shoot down to the the Beans Cafe located on the corner for a late night latte.
Back when Ouellette Avenue was a destination not just a north south thruway.What a shame.
So depressing.
I remmeber a place called Place Riviere ( I am pretty sure tha
Ignore the above post. I hit a button and it posted. Oops.
I remember a place called Place Riviere ( I am pretty sure that was the name). There was an entrance to the left of where Cheetah’s eventually was located (on the northwest corner of the block). There were a few shops and a cafe or restaurant in there. The entrance was later covered up.I was last in there in the early 70’s. Anybody else remember this place?
I have no problem with new development, but its so depressing that the new building does such a terrible job of addressing the street. Now that Investor’s Group is moving in there is no chance we will see any change to that. I can’t understand why that ground floor space never filled up. You could have probably fit 15 retail shops facing Riverside and Pitt. If that had happed I don’t think people would be so upset. New development is ok.. as long as it dosn’t debase the the area like the Chrysler building does.
I don’t live In Windsor now but when I do visit I always go to see what’s happening downtown. Was there anything in the lobby of the Chrysler building? Or has it always remained empty?… Also is the bank facade still in storage somewhere? Anything going to happen with that? Sorry one more question…. What happened to Plunketts?
I used to take my kids to Fast eddies every saturday morning give em a roll of quarters each and turn em loose i can’t beleive after all the busines’s that used to occupy that block now there’s Chrysler’s and one resturante why they aren’t using all that empty space below the parking garage is confusing
Cw, there has never been anything in the lobby of the Chrysler building except for a few show cars and reception desk. We now have a Keg restaurant on the North East corner of the building (across from ST. Clair Center for the Arts); interesting to note that there are only two Keg restaurants in downtown areas in Ontario, Windsor and Toronto.
Yup, bank facade still sits collecting cobwebs at the Lou Romano waste treatment plant. Way to go Windsor!
It was sold to her son who now runs it as a pseudo Irish bar called Mick’s.
CW king eddie is hinting around that we need a new modern city hall because the present one is outdated and the building is full of asbestos heres a thought he could work the bank facade into the main entrance of the new building the funny thing is about a year ago they spent tons on washroom improvements i guess the royale butts at city hall need a nice place to sit their ass LOL
Place Riviere. Wow forgot that name. I believe it was the group of stores in the downstairs area…(maybe the White Building that was torn down after a fire). Place Riviere included the Chesire Cat Cafe – great lunches. There was also a lingerie store that received quite alot of press for having Men only nights with live models – so the guys could buy Christmas presents for their wives. I think the stairs to the shops could be accessed off Pitt St through an alley.
I loved that block and spent many a day/night there as a visitor, a patron, and a tenant. My band used to rent a rehearsal studio above Tom’s next to South Shore and were regulars at most of the establishments. There was a great community on that block with high traffic and friendly faces. Now, I barely want to park on Pitt because of the towering white elephant. One of the earlier replies mentioned that it is a shame how the building addresses the street, and I second that strongly! A main floor retail/service base would have been ideal, whether inside or outside. They at least thought about the corner when considering The Keg. Imagine if that was gone, how horrible it would be. Even better, imagine if that was repeated around the whole block how exciting and engaging it would be.
The “Norwich Block” name was, I believe, a marketing ploy to help assemble the properties for the redevelopment, suggesting an identity without identifying it. I share nostalgia for many of the businesses mentioned above. However, the riverside front of the block was pockmarked by vacancies throughout the four decades before demolition. That sidewalk could be a lonely walk on a blustery February night. So far, the so-called Chrysler block has done little to change such uncertain business. The lead architect for the project, in an unguarded moment as construction ended, agreed with an interviewer that imposing a parking garage on such a prime piece of real estate was not wise urban planning.
The Norwich Block referred to a preservation scheme in Norwich England, that used a non profit corporation to renovate and preserve part of their downtown . The scheme was proposed as a method to preserve what would become the “Norwich Block” and with frequent repetition lent its name to the Windsor block. http://www.norwichlanes.co.uk/about/
There was also a great Vietnamese restaurant whose name I forget bohemians liked to patronize, mid-block facing the river; and a commerical art gallery next door, Artrageous, whose proprietor, Joan Hunter, was a good, discerning soul helpful to talented unknowns in getting their work sold. People places—
What year did Fast Eddys close?
I think 1997 Dave.
It’s great they got rid of these businesses and put in a bank.
If downtown Windsor needs anything, it’s a bank, more bars and vacant buildings.
Now all we need is a million dollar arena with an unfrozen ice pad.
And a canal…..