You know, it’s shit like this, and land owners like Ashok Sood (who FYI, owns Champion Products Corp) who don’t give a rat’s ass about Windsor or our history, who make this City and undesirable place to live. Assholes and incompetence is the reason there is a giant hole in the historic heart of Walker Road in old Walkerville.
The historic Seagrave Building on Walker Road (which was featured here and here), was built around 1905, and in this building the first motorized fire trucks in Canada were built.
The city fucked up once again. This building was listed on the Heritage Inventory, and as such it should by law be afforded a 60 day waiting period before a demolition permit is issued. Guess what? It wasn’t. Some moron at City Hall issued the permit without batting an eye.
The same thing happened in November 2006 with the Walker Farm Manager’s house.
Following the Walker Farm House fiasco, I raised a stink and I received this reply:
Please note that the Ontario Heritage Act has been amended so that
properties that are considered for heritage designation must give Council
60 days notice of the intention to designate. After intention is given,
Council must make a decision whether to designate the building or allow
demolition.
Here is the relevant portion of the Ontario Heritage Act – See Section
27(3) – for the 60 day delay part.
Restriction on demolition, etc. If property included in the register under subsection (1.2) has not been
designated under section 29, the owner of the property shall not demolish
or remove a building or structure on the property or permit the demolition
or removal of the building or structure unless the owner gives the council
of the municipality at least 60 days notice in writing of the owner’s
intention to demolish or remove the building or structure or to permit the
demolition or removal of the building or structure. 2006, c. 11, Sched. B,
s. 11 (2).*We have unfortunately issued a demolition permit without following this
procedure. In the future, please ensure that if a building is considered
for heritage designation, that (the heritage planner) be notified and, under no
circumstances, issue the permit unless Council approves the demolition.
…*
Good to see that the city can’t even follow it’s own policies.
I have honestly had it up to here with the City and their piss poor job of doing anything.
The Mayor of Monmouth summed it up better than I ever could in his excellent post here.
No advance warning at all. It was obviously done on the hush. There is one exception to this. Rick Gruber who is the area Building Inspector rushed out today to halt the demolition because even though there was a permit to raise the building, there was no permit to close Walker Road. In fact, the sidewalk is the only thing which separates the building from Walker Road. Witnesses said that a man riding a bike almost got clocked by falling bricks. Four thirty rolled around. Quittin time for city employees and Jones fired up the beast and started tearing the old girl down. Right in the middle of rush hour. One reason…They rented the rig from Amicone for a tight time window and the clock was ticking. Within two hours the building was really history. Ashok Sood who owns that property along with most of the 8 and 900 blocks of Walker Road stood on the opposite side of Walker to witness his planned demolition. He is planning to attract a “Big Box” operation on the East Side of Walker.
– Mayor of Monmouth
You know what? Fuck you, and fuck your big box. Enjoy your vacant lot, and rest assured that I will fight any attempt by you to redevelop your holdings for big box use.
Special thanks for the photo above to Chris Edwards, who went back after me and caught the demise on camera.
His series of photos can be found here: http://walkerville.com/seagraves/
This is unacceptable, and fucking pathetic. Whoever issued this permit in contravention of the Ontario Heritage Act should lose their fucking job.
I’ll keep everyone posted if I learn anything.
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Although i am not trying to jump sides i have to agree with "CT" on one thing about developing the area. Even a Tim Hortons as Paul likes to say would be more beneficial to the area then the building continuing to fall apart and become a actual danger to those in the area. Mr. Sood from what i have read sounds like a pretty sharp businessman who has been around Windsor for a long time so i can only take an educated guess that if nothing has been developed there for the past 3 years while it was for sale it did not make any sense to do so and i am sure all the other business people in the area probably think that way as they all had the opportunity to buy the building or rent it out aparently as it was supposedly on the market for the past few years. I agree there is a major problem here, but if the permit was issued then the problem lies with our incompetent staff at city hall. All we can do is try and fix the system so hopefully nothing slips through the cracks again.
Dave
mr stood said it will remain a vacant lot.The building has been in windsor since 1904 and Stood should of put money into it even like a museum about seagraves and then maybe he could of made a little bit of money off it.I doubt anything will be built on the property
"Even a Tim Hortons as Paul likes to say would be more beneficial to the area then the building continuing to fall apart and become a actual danger to those in the area. "
What the hell are you talking about Dave? What danger? Were bricks falling off the building? The fire marshall reviewed the building the past year and said it was still structurally sound, as stated in the previous article on here. So, that's bullsh-it! There's no danger. And, I don't buy that line of reasoning.
And why would a Tim Horton's go up when there's one a couple blocks away?
And, Assco-ck is definitely not sharp. A sharp businessman would go through the process to balance his interests with that of the community; otherwise, he damages his reputation. And, reputation means a lot in business. And, a sharp businessman would realize that.
David..I was obviously being sarcastic about another Tom Hortons. But yes i think the building was becoming dangerous as i heard there had been a fire within the last few months there and i think you have your facts a little wrong. The owner is a sharp businessman and his companies i know have given a lot back to this community. I am not trying to defend anything that happened just simply i think all this anger is misplaced. I cant imagiine what the cost of such a building would be to the owner as far as taxes and vandalism and so on. Lets focus on what we can control the remaining buildings on the heritage list and put the efforts there.
Dave,
i would like to say a few things (my opinions):
fire and vandalism occur far less frequently on buildings that are properly maintained and secured. A building only deteriorates when the owner allows it to.
The main reason the building remained vacant was probably because of how poorly the building was maintained. If that building was properly maintained and returned to her former glory, I can almost guarantee it would have succeeded in procuring and keeping tenants.
If the cost of the building was too much, why purchase it in the first place?
Believe what you want, he knew full well the history of the building. In one Windsor Star article he states he didn't know anything about it and then contradicts himself by saying someone had told him but never got back to him about it.
The way the demo was rushed points to knowledge of the value of the building. Get it down before it becomes a heritage site or anyone can raise awareness of it.
By the way the Dave above who agrees with CT is not the Dave most of you know. I guess net etiquette is dead because I believe that once a posters name is "taken" most will use a different name. I guess I will go by Dave C. for now on.
It's like back in highschool when I knew 14 guys named Dave. It's no less confusing now that I'm sober the majority of the time :)
These are the Daves I know.... ;)
Heritage buildings are an essential part of any dynamic city. They create economic opportunities through cultural tourism and by attracting smart creative types to live work. Think Venice, San Fransico, or Stratford Ontario. The reckless demolition of the Seagrave building is a tragic loss for Windsor's future development as a tourist destination. But it takes vision to see that there is a connection between heritage and economy, and vision is something Windsor sorely lacks.
James I couldn't agree more! Too bad the overlords of the City can't see that...