Photo Du JourWindsor

Long Gone...

November 13, 2006
Today’s post is proof that not every building lost downtown was a gem. Here are a pair of old postcards that show a couple of old Windsor landmarks that were lost in the 1990’s. The plywood palace. The waterfront Holiday inn. It was vacant, and scheduled for demolition when a mysterious fire broke out and the place burned to the ground in 1999. Another beauty was the former Art…
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Photo Du JourWindsor

The Cleary Auditorium - Then and Now

November 10, 2006
Then, The Cleary Auditorium was the shining jewel in a newly built civic center. It was built in 1957 by local architects Johnson & McWhinnie. Now, A white elephant, stripped of its original design. The City of Windsor loses about a million dollars a year subsidizing…
Old PhotographsPhoto Du JourWindsor

Old Photos 1910 - Part I

November 7, 2006
Some of these I may have posted before, others maybe not… These are from my personal collection, and they date to about 1910-1915… The Canadian Club sign on the docks at Walkerville. It was designed by Albert Kahn. Riverside Dr. (then Sandwich St.) looking…
Photo Du JourWindsor

Not even Cigars...

November 6, 2006
As part of the draconian non-smoking laws introduced in Ontario earlier this year, a silly side effect was the banning of any tobacco related words in any advertising. That means that downtown stores that advertise “Cuban Cigars” are liable to be fined. Some store owers over reacted and took a fit… Others simply scrached out “Cigars” from their signs….
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Photo Du JourWindsor

Bye Bye Rum Runners...

November 2, 2006
Time has run out for the burned out shell of the old Rum Runners Tavern. The building-eaters moved in behind the death fences earlier this week… … and quick work was made of another historic Windsor site. Back when the fire struck, I ran this post that…
DetroitNewsWindsor

W.I.F.F.

November 1, 2006
It’s that time again… The 2nd annual Windsor International Film Festival. I missed the first version last year, as I was away on my honeymoon at the time. The festival will run Thursday, November 8 – Sunday, November 12. This year’s venues are: The Capitol Theatre – Downtown Windsor Palace Cinemas – Downtown Windsor Lakeshore Cinemas – Sprawlville Detroit…
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Photo Du JourWindsor

New Bus Terminal

October 31, 2006
So work finally got underway on the Windsor Bus Terminal. The new station is being built on the site of the former Canadian Tire store in downtown Windsor. The building will look similar to the Art Gallery when completed, and nothing like the “proposed” urban…
Photo Du JourWindsor

History Uncovered

October 30, 2006
Special thanks to the Voice Of Windsor for alerting me last week of the history uncovered at the “big dig”. Down at Dieppe Park on the Windsor Waterfront, they are clearing the parking lot out, and preparing the ground for the architecturally un-inspiring turd…