The former Tepperman’s Building on Ottawa St. has had a long and interesting history.
First built in 1939, the building was originally only one story tall. It was designed by J.P. Thomson, who was at the time working for Sheppard & Masson.
(Photo from the collection of Windsor’s Community Museum – P09974)
The post war boom saw the second and third floors added in 1946, also designed by JP Thomson. Thomson eventually left and founded his own firm, which still exists to this day as J.P. Thomson Associates Ltd.
For many years the building was a CAW Hall and was clad in a corrugated metal siding. The photo above was taken in 2005, after the siding was removed.
Rosatti Contruction, “prettied” it up for us by puting in frosted glass windows, and covering it in stucco in 2006.
I also noticed that the “Great Satan” of stucco has struck again, this time this red brick building on the north side of Ottawa St., between Parent and Langlois has been covered over.
I guess I am still in shock that there are people out there that actually think this looks good, and is an improvement over the orignal brick.
I’m glad to hear that it’s not just me who thinks that this cheap “stucco” veneering looks like crap. I should have known it was Satan all along. The other cladding which really looks tacky is the cheap stone facing which is happening on an increasing level. The sad part is that many people are emulating these looks on older homes in very well established hoods like Old Walkerville. It misses the point entirely and completely destroys the true style,genre and identity of it’s victem homes. The worst part is that the stucco siding only seems to have a life span of about five years before it starts to crack and shale. Hopefully more people will catch the play before this becomes an epidemic.
When I see the stucco on buildings I want to puke. I call it the disney-fying of an area. Wait in 10-12 years when water gets behind it and then people will see just how wonderful it will look. What a society we will live in…disposable everything.
What a shame. The windows have been screwed up too. I love how it used to look with the windows “wrapping” around the corner of the building. The old windows would have let in a lot of light and were not only more esthetically more pleasing but looked more like the building had a purpose. I liked the old store – it had a nice feel inside.
great to see that first shot. i remember going there to shop for furniture with my parents. there used to be SO MANY furniture stores in town back then. i forget which ones were downtown though, either where cadillac jacks was or the fish market. i remember going to one by there that was also several floors.
i will be taking down my site soon, so you can remove the link on your site when you have time. no one has been contributing to it, so i don’t see the point of keeping it up.
The “new look” stone finish reminds of what they did to houses in England and there is called pebble dash and it looks terrible especially when applied to the exterior of a wonderful Vicitorian or Edwardian house. As a matter of fact when I watching one of the English house selling shows on H&G they were saying that nobody wants that pebble dash look anymore and it lowers the value of the house considerably. I am also not a fan of new vinyl windows and doors on early 19th century houses – Walkerville for instance. It spoils the whole look of the house.
I meant to say early 20th century houses. I still have to remember that when someone refers to a mid century house it means 1950-1960!!
Were the floors in the Tepperman building concrete or hardwood/woodframe?
David, I don’t have a copy of the plans, but in order to add on the extra floors, it would have to be concrete/steel frame construction. That is probably why the first phase was 1939, with the rest being built after the war, and the easing of materails for construction in 1946.
As much as I remember the Ottawa Street building, I also remember the respect that the Tepperman family had in this community. It still does! Thank you Tepperman’s
If it’s so solid with concrete floors and so easily renovated like Rosati did, I wonder why they moved to the Ouellette Ave/Dougall Ave location in midtown. Coultier’s Furniture is still at their downtown location on Windsor Ave and just as large. Any pictures of what the Coultier’s Furniture building looked like without stucco?
I would imagine (opinion) that they moved for several reasons:
1. Easy of loading and unloading items into and out of the store.
2. People are generally lazy. People would rather shop on one level than on three. It’s a fact of life.
3. When they moved, the metro area wasn’t as sprawled out as it is now. Likely the Ouellette Ave. location was smack dab in the middle of the city for most current and potentail customers.
As Gerry mentionned the Tepperman’s are great community members, and they deserve kudos for sticking with Windsor and not having fled to the suburbs like many others. Mr & Mrs Tepperman are very active in many different aspects of the community and if we had more business leaders like the Tepperman’s WIndsor would would be a much better place.
Rather than questioning why Tepperman’s moved, you should be asking why Rosatti turned a classic streamlined peice of architecture into a gleaming turd.
As for Coulter’s I’ve never seen any old photos of the building.
Rosatti’s interpretation of the Tepperman’s building would fit in perfectly – anywhere in the Mediterranean – maybe.
On another note – if there are certain types of observations or questions that annoy you, Andrew, ( your response to David’s post ) perhaps you should put up a FAQ to that effect.
Well, I see your point about the stucco. Still, though, the building looked pretty shabby pre-stucco, especially with the two holes bricked over with cinder block, it looks like. It would likely be hard to find that color of brick to replace what was needed, and then to try to age the brick to make it blend in.
Most people don’t like that patchwork-quilt style of bricks being off a shade or more over a surface. Bricks are very low maintenance but they do require it eventually, especially with the freeze/thaw cycles here.
So, using stucco to cover it all up is a quick and dirty fix. I agree stucco looks better in Florida than here, but it is better than an abandoned building or a parking lot.
I hadn’t heard of pebble dash until now, so I googled it. Now I know what you mean, it looks like a road surface on a house. Again, more of the quick gratification but I am sure cost plays a part in it. It would seem the stuff could still come off if water gets behind it and freezes. But with global warming, the UK won’t have to worry about that for long!
The move for Teppermans was probably an easy decison. The building and location where they are at now was always a part of the Teppermans establishment. Even when the store was still located on Ottawa Street. At the time it was used as their warehouse with the name emblazoned over the side wall facing Edinborough Street. Obviously, the Ottawa Street location became too cramped and hampered any expansion plans.