TD Bank

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• Here's another conception of this vomit. What a joke.

  http://www.windsorstar.com/news/Bank+deal/1196061/story.html

• Lesser of two evils in this case

  That building combined with the Post Office across the street made for the deadest block downtown.

  Having absolutely nothing to look at on that block is more pedestrian "unfriendly" as that daylight corner. Thats the whole reason other downtowns ban banks and offices from Main floor space. In this case the former bank which also did not have a daylight corner was the greates blight downtown ever had. The effect of deterring pedestrian traffic between downtown and the river was equivalent to stringing up barbed wire across Ouellette. We're talking about a very bad situation to begin with. Would a daylight corner have been preferable, sure, more ia always better than less. Isn't that the city's greenlink policy?

  The only other possible solution ever attempted in any other downtown is what was done in Kalamazoo Michigan. The city started a development corporation that was funded by other levels of government and philanthropy. That development corporation bought up properties such as this and then sold them below what they paid to developers who would put up what the city wanted. They city bought up run down bars and other undesirable properties, levelled them and put the "ready to build" property for sale for far less what they invested into it.

  Thats not an option here, not enough philanthropists or government funds to allow that.

  New design guidelines and sign bylaws in downtown would prevent ugly design. We're the largest downtown in North America that lacks separate sign bylaws to the rest of the city. Thats why we get all the neon, massage, strob lights we do.

• Look on the bright side. All that glass will contribute to jobs! Just think how busy window cleaners will be. Also, it will be most economical when it comes time to tear it down.
  I believe that the architecture just doesn't provide any inspiration for anyone visiting the downtown core. The end result just looks like something someone slapped together without a construction plan. Then again, it may provide pigeons with lots of roosting opportunities and keep them off the streets.

• Guys thanks for the interesting discussion today...

  A few points:

  David - From what I understand the underground spots will only be for employees. Not a public lot.

  I do not believe that Petretta was involved in either the Casino or the EC Row project.

  They are a contractor - they build off the plans they are given. They don't design the buildings themselves. They've built such things as the Shoppers Home Care on Howard and the Rexall's around town.

  Chris - you can't blame Petretta on this, they are simply trying to push forward with the plans they have been given by their client. Every developer in the world simply wants to build their projects as quickly and as cheaply as they can.

  Davide Petretta was kind enough to allow me to walk through the old Manning House prior to demolition.

  It falls back on council and planning to enforce the guidelines they want followed.

  Mark - I disagree with your comments on the old post office building. That is a great building, and the scale and power that the architecture represents is an historic asset to our main street. A main street that is an ugly jumbled stuccoed mess.

  The example of Kalamazoo buying and demolished downtown structure sounds like a nightmare. We have tons of "ready to build" sites in the core, the problem is no one wants to build there because downtown is a wasteland.

• Andrew, the post office bldg is a great bldng but making a downtown pedestrian friendly means activity on the main floor. You could fix that block where the post office by simply replacing the planters with a designated sidewalk vendors & carts. I love trees as much as the next guy but I'm a put people first kind of persson

• I also misrepresented what Kalamazoo was doing. They never took down any bldgs with historical or design significance. In fact all new blgs adhere to a design standard that does not allow glass bldgs. You should see their downtown transit terminal, how well it fits into an urban setting.

  Kalamazoo also didn't demolish the buildings they bought, sometimes the city would simply buy them to get rid of undesirable tenants and sell or lease only to tenants that would contribute to the downtown tapestry even if at a reduced rent. Or they'd buy the bldg and rezone it for more appropriate uses, ruling out undesirable uses and then sell it at a discount accounted for by the zoning change.

• Speaking of the Post Office building, has anyone looked closely at it lately? The walls are actually crumbling...it's quite noticeable a few floors up on the north part of the building on the side fronting Ouellette Ave.

• I'm one for new development and investment in this city but we should have design standards. This building is ugly as hell! That stretch of Ouellette is a wasteland for walking around, but putting a bank on that corner as oppose to zoning for more retail/commercial business won't help the situation either. Windsor desperately needs these jobs to stay downtown to support other businesses, but TD closing 2 other locations is only hurting other sections of downtown.

• Great photos...hmm plans to a bank eh! Who's in!

• Mark, if I remember correctly it was the bar owners and lunch counters that complained to council about vendors (hot dog, sausage, hamburger carts) on the sidewalks. They complained it was taking money away from them and coucnil did a knee-jerk reaction and put by-laws inplace where vendors couldn't sell within a certain distance of said establishments. Then they licensed the crap out of and most went bust.

  That is one main thing I miss about downtown. Getting a hotdog and sitting on the street or by the river with my daughter. It was quality time that was pissed away by a greedy few.