Glad to see it’s not only Windsor who rips down heritage buildings. The Town of Tecumseh, the sleepy bedroom community to the east, proved that they could make short sighted decisions too. The historic Lakewood Golf Course Club House bit the dust late last week…
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Lakewood clubhouse to be demolished
BY GARY RENNIE, THE WINDSOR STAR APRIL 15, 2009The battle to save one of the last prohibition-era clubhouses in the region from demolition is over.
With one councillor dissenting, Tecumseh council agreed Tuesday to tear down the almost century-old Lakewood golf course clubhouse after recent consultants’ reports found little historical value in preservation.
Along with approving a $26,500 tender for demolition, council also formally removed the old clubhouse property on Riverside Drive and the 91-acre Lakewood Golf Course from the town’s preliminary list of heritage sites.
The town owns the clubhouse, but after an appeal from the Keep Tecumseh Green committee two years ago had postponed a decision to award a demolition tender while the heritage issues were studied.
Coun. Rita Ossington, a past chair of the town’s heritage committee, said she was “totally disappointed” with council’s decision. She cast the only votes against each of the motions.
“It’s time to put this to bed,” said Mayor Gary McNamara. He said the town has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on legal and consulting fees on battles to preserve the golf course properties.
Despite the decisions on heritage issues, Ossington pointed out the town still faces an Ontario Municipal Board hearing on the proposal for residential development of the golf course.
The golf course owners and several nearby homeowners are also opposing plans by the Reichmann Corp. for a $25-million luxury seniors’ residence on the former golf course property on the waterfront that’s now owned by the town.
An OMB pre-hearing resumes April 30 on the development issues. In the meantime, the Lakewood course at the foot of Manning Road is open for the 2009 season.
© Copyright (c) The Windsor Star
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Clubhouse promptly demolished
APRIL 17, 2009Only two days after Tecumseh council awarded the tender, Windsor Disposal began the demolition Thursday of the old Lakewood Golf Course clubhouse on Riverside Drive East.
The demolition drew many curious spectators, who took photos and shared memories of parties and weddings. One, Harold Rindlisbacher, a former St. Clair Beach deputy reeve, recalled the decades he and others spent trying to save the golf course from residential development. The town’s heritage committee successfully urged council to preserve the building or significant parts of it as reminders of its role as a coummunity meeting place going back to Prohibition days.
The town bought the clubhouse as part of its $8-million acquisition of land north of Riverside Drive in 2006.
© Copyright (c) The Windsor Star
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Only one dissenting voice? Sounds like Tecumseh council has taken a page from Windsor’s book…
Good luck to Councilor Rita Ossington. Sounds like she’s the only one out there trying to protect heritage.
However I’m sure in 40 years they can designate the corner of Manning Road and E.C. Row. It will be a great example of turn of the century stucco strip mall construction…
OK, here’s the only problem I have with not tearing down a building. Somebody come up with a use for it in its exsisting state that’s viable. I’m not saying that tearing down the Lakewood Golf Club clubhouse is not a bad thing, but what would happen to the building if it were not leveled? Without a viable preservation plan, it just becomes another ruin……
I think it would not have taken much effort to find a new use for the building. Currently the Town of Tecumseh has but a small ‘museum’ with limited hours. This site would have served well as a museum/park much like Willistead. The property north of Riverside Drive is extensive, on the lake front and such property should be kept in the public domain when and where possible. Properly equipped, many events could have been hosted here. This is just one possibility.
I am sure that the town could sell off the property north of the drive and build huge mansions and make lots of bucks…. which is likely what will happen. Just like the Rendezvous site. (just West of Lesperance Road)
Is that the original chimney in the pic, peeking out from all that vinyl?.
I believe I read the property north of Riverside is going to be kept by the town and turned into a park.
Doug, as you can see here http://bit.ly/IAbAe this a map of the area. The part south of Riverside was purchased a while back, and a developer wants to build housing on the Golf Course part. The town is keeping the section between Riverside Dr. and Lake St. Clair.
I agree with you, but in a suburban town that’s short on any part of history, with a bit of thought, there could be plenty of uses for a historic building located in a waterfront park.
I can’t say that I’ve ever been in there, driven by many times though. It’s fairly common for golf courses to be converted over to residential (hopefully trees are saved). For the people living in view of the course, it will be devastating to give up their park-like views, which may have increased their property values.
I guess it’s the old argument of historic/dated vs highest and best use. A golf course could easily be built out in the county somewhere to replace Lakewood. When it was built, it was in the middle of nowhere.
If I were a rate payer I would certainly not want to see more money go toward legal fights or maintaining an aging structure. Yes, it’s sad for people who have memories there but perhaps something good can come of this in the long run.
Andrew, I realize that the intention is for the town to retain the North portion as some sort of park but I think that in time it will also succumb to the pressures of development.
True, Lakewood Golf Course was “in the middle of nowhere” as JB states but there will never be an opportunity in the future to retain this property as a true park. Yes, towns and cities provide mini-parks for adjacent residents but for the most part these are little more than playgrounds. As urban development continues, residents will long for larger tracts of parkland with trees and trails in their core (much like Central Park in New York; at least Windsor has Jackson and Memorial Parks). I believe that the current plan for the Lakewood property will not retain the park characteristic. Perhaps this discussion will surface again when Beechgrove Golf Course will face the same dilema… perhaps with a more learned outcome.
Agreed – I’m not a golfer or a golf fan. What they do with the course part isn’t going to upset me one way or the other, but to lose the club house is sad.
We have constant fights in Windsor over our dwindling heritage stock, so it makes me sad when a town gives up one of only two or three heritage buildings in their town for no good reason.
Referring to the land parcel south of the drive, I am only an occasional golfer so I am not upset about losing the property in the sense that there will be no golf. I see this as an opportunity to rededicate usage to real parkland with trees and walking trails, etc. and open to all to enjoy. To have the property populated with various types of townhouses, etc. and have but small ‘parkettes’ for the children to ride swings or whatever would be a great loss to future generations.
Referring to the property north of the drive, it is sad that the structure is going/gone as it did have some historic relevance. It could have been the nucleus to a waterfront park and have acted as a museum (which the town needs). Could there have been a “Friends of Lakewood” much like the “Friends of Willistead”? We will never know.
I wish there were pictures of the inside so I could see what all the hoopla is all about because I really don’t see it from the outside. All I see is siding, simple architecture and no brickwork. There’s tonnes of houses along Riverside Drive like this done up with quality brickwork. It’s not even in the same ballpark in terms of architecture to Willistead to have an organization behind it like “Friends of Lakewood”. And, to top it off, the inside may even be completely destroyed from being vacant for so long. There’s too much of a romantic view of this place that’s been built up of this place that I don’t think wasn’t even there anymore a year prior to demolition. I’ve also seen the architect’s renderings for the new brickwork structure going up in it’s place, which is worthy of Riverside Dr. That and the $25 million being spent into the local economy when it’s needed the most has me thinking that is a very good result.
David, once again you’re wrong. The rendering you saw is not going on this site, but across the street in the golf course section.
I thought I read somewhere that this demo was part of the deal of getting the $25million seniors center being built; otherwise, the developers weren’t going to build it. Whether it was parking for the center or blocking the view of the river and grounds for the center or whatever. The center was a monster compared to the size of this place, not that it could even fir on the footprint of this place. That’s what I meant, that the building was on part of the overall grounds for this new center.
Here’s a picture of the proposed senior’s center across the street. http://www.windsorstar.com/business/fp/Waterfront+seniors+residence/1275996/story.html It looks like something right out of Cranbrook. It looks 10x better than Willistead. If I were the developers, do you think I would build something like that with this plain looking structure with siding right across the street from it?
Before complaining about losing heritage, it would be good the read the actual Windsor Star article….
“With one councillor dissenting, Tecumseh council agreed Tuesday to tear down the almost century-old Lakewood golf course clubhouse after recent consultants’ reports found little historical value in preservation”….
read that last sentence again…….a heritage expert found little historical value.
Just because a building is old, does not mean it has heritage value.
The only downside to demolition and rebuild in an area such as this, is that there may not be any public access to the lake with the new facility going on that site. We need well maintained public access points on our waterways. just my opinion.
BTW, my parents were remarried in that building back in 1968, I can’t recall what it looked like, but I seem to recall it wasn’t that impressive of a building, as compared to say, Beachgrove, and/or Essex Golf Club and Country Clubs.
In a previous post I was not implying that the clubhouse possessed any architectural or historic value. This golf course was not in the same class or standard as either Essex or Beach Grove Golf and Country Clubs. Lakewood was an open golf course and membership or green fees was not expensive in comparison; hence the support facilities were practical and not extravagant.
The point I was trying to make is that the municipality had an opportunity to examine waterfront usage and to place this property in the public domain. The clubhouse, despite its lack of distinction, could have served as a beach house, museum, or nature centre and could have been an economical addition to a waterfront park.
Opportunities to regain waterfront properties for ‘the public good’ are few and far between. Several years ago the City of Windsor permitted the construction of the Holiday Inn/Odeon complex despite its policy of denied construction on the riverfront. Only because of a fire was this property regained. The Town of Tecumseh had an opportunity to ameliorate the riverfront when the Rendezvous property became available. Instead, developers won out and constructed a walled community in its place.
If you want to build people friendly cities with appropriate population density, you have to provide the populace with friendly space. Park space fits this category. This is why I believe that the entire Lakewood property should be ‘developed’ with this in mind. Just my opinion!