I took these photos last Wednesday, so they are a week old, and it’s possible that the building is already gone.
It’s not an architectural treasure, but this warehouse still tells part of the story of this part of town.
McDougall between Eugenie and Gilles is in my opinion one of the most threatened parts of the city. It’s part of the story of Windsor’s and its industrial heritage, and it’s slowly disappearing.
Just to the south of this building is the Toybox daycare. It was built on the site of the former Deco Stained Glass, which was housed in a old mid century building that was demolished. At Tecumseh Road the old Rust Shield factory was demolished. To the north fire took out most of the old industrial building there. Before that at McDougall & Hanna the old Windsor Drywall building fell. The old rail sidings have vanished…
McDougall today, looks nothing like McDougall of 10 years ago.
I’m not sure what’s going on here. Hopefully the fences aren’t for demolition, but I suspect they are. The building was/is listed for sale here.
Anyone know anything about plans for this site?
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The front(lower)portion of the building will be removed as part of an extension/addition project to the adjacent Toybox Daycare. The remaining warehouse portion will be renovated in keeping with the design detail of the adjacent daycare building. You are correct, this painted concrete block shell building is in no way an architectural gem and is of no historical significance.
I think "design detail" is a bit of stretch. The toybox is a suburban style stucco clad turd.
Your certainly entitled to your opinion. Although the comment I posted was simply informing you of what was planned for this site, which is what I believe was your initial question/request was seeking?
With all due respect, I think what Andrew is trying to say here is, with good thought to design and interesting facade materials, (ie. stone, metal, wood, etc.) we could all have a better looking City. It seems that most builders (and/or renovators) take a quick and easy way out, and give very little thought to good design through more interesting materials usage. With the understanding that costs and tight budgets play a major role in this, there are still other options other than stucco covered brick or concrete block. (not to say this will happen here).
One major reason may be that there are very few good craftsmen left in the region that can efficiently design and build using materials other than stucco and related finishes.
My two cents (and opinion), thanks for the concern and post Andrew!
it's funny with all the buildings coming down in the city anytime i see an aerial view of windsor and detroit detroits skyline looks so huge then you look at windsors side of the river and it doesn't wvwn look like it's developed at all the city has this policy that it wants a nice uniform skyline which is such bullshit
JarKav,
Sorry if my first post come off a bit testy. Thank you for passing on the info about the plan for the site.
Scott, certainly said more than I ever could on the subject, my personal feelings on certain building materials are well documented on here, it's just a bit depressing that there are never any new projects around town to get excited about, and that everything that's built looks like it was designed by the same person.
It would be nice to see some architect take a risk, and for a client to agree to build it.
Agreed Andrew!
I am starting to get a bit paranoid that the city is trying to mirror what they did to the city center west lands with the rest of Windsor. At least this building won't be yet another vacant lot and/or parking lot.
But I do have to say. ENOUGH WITH THE STUCCO YOU LAZY ARCHITECTS AND CHEAP CONSTRUCTION COMPANIES!
So, is it better to reuse the building or tear it down? I guess if they brick it you want it and if they stucco it you want it torn down?
In response to the stucco comment Dave..
I think many architects in the city would love the challenge of expending beyond the typical stucco box. In my experience it's not the architects, but the clients who demand this cheep facade material. You can only stand your ground so long before the bill collectors start knocking!
As of June 15, construction crews were hard at work. But not demolishing -- renovating. Well, actually rebuilding, with some of the garage at the front gone and a snazzy fake roofline going on top of the new facade.It's the big-box style of design, although on a smaller scale. No signs posted to indicate its future.