Time’s up, and another hole in the streetscape and urban fabric is due for Ouellette Ave. 1567 Ouellette featured here, last May.
This past Thursday, the Windsor Heritage Committee, had a meeting to deal with the request of a demolition permit request for the property. The committee was tasked with deciding whether to either a. take no action and allow the 60 day waiting period to take course; b. recommend designation, or c. pass a motion of no objection to the demolition request, allowing the property owners to proceed in advance of the 60 days period.
The resolution of the Heritage Committee is then passed on to council, who then choose to accept the recommendation of the committee or they can make their own motion. Over the years the City Council has been mostly supportive of the actions of the committee, usually taking, and accepting the recommendations put forth by the committee.
A motion to designate the property was put forth, after much debate, a vote of 3-2 saw the motion fail. As a result the fate of the building is essentially sealed.
From the Windsor Star – November 7, 1964
A view of the James H. Sutton Funeral Home, which took the property and expanded it into to the form that’s mostly there today.
From the Windsor Daily Star – October 23, 1954
Ernest Wilby, second from left is referred to as the “dean of local architects and former professor of architectural design at the University of Michigan”, as seen in this picture from the 1954 OAA conference in Windsor. On an unrelated note the OAA conference returned to Windsor in 2010.
While promises were made to “continue to market the site”, I would be willing to put money on it, that nothing will ever be built on that site. The only future use for that land I can see is a parking lot.
So, welcome to Windsor, where historic buildings are demolished at an alarming rate. If you hear any strange sounds in Walkerville, coming from St. Mary’s Churchyard, that’s probably Ernest Wilby rolling in his grave.
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