Norwich Block c. 1998

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• Place Riviere. Wow forgot that name. I believe it was the group of stores in the downstairs area...(maybe the White Building that was torn down after a fire). Place Riviere included the Chesire Cat Cafe - great lunches. There was also a lingerie store that received quite alot of press for having Men only nights with live models - so the guys could buy Christmas presents for their wives. I think the stairs to the shops could be accessed off Pitt St through an alley.

• I loved that block and spent many a day/night there as a visitor, a patron, and a tenant. My band used to rent a rehearsal studio above Tom's next to South Shore and were regulars at most of the establishments. There was a great community on that block with high traffic and friendly faces. Now, I barely want to park on Pitt because of the towering white elephant. One of the earlier replies mentioned that it is a shame how the building addresses the street, and I second that strongly! A main floor retail/service base would have been ideal, whether inside or outside. They at least thought about the corner when considering The Keg. Imagine if that was gone, how horrible it would be. Even better, imagine if that was repeated around the whole block how exciting and engaging it would be.

• The "Norwich Block" name was, I believe, a marketing ploy to help assemble the properties for the redevelopment, suggesting an identity without identifying it. I share nostalgia for many of the businesses mentioned above. However, the riverside front of the block was pockmarked by vacancies throughout the four decades before demolition. That sidewalk could be a lonely walk on a blustery February night. So far, the so-called Chrysler block has done little to change such uncertain business. The lead architect for the project, in an unguarded moment as construction ended, agreed with an interviewer that imposing a parking garage on such a prime piece of real estate was not wise urban planning.

• The Norwich Block referred to a preservation scheme in Norwich England, that used a non profit corporation to renovate and preserve part of their downtown . The scheme was proposed as a method to preserve what would become the "Norwich Block" and with frequent repetition lent its name to the Windsor block. http://www.norwichlanes.co.uk/about/

• There was also a great Vietnamese restaurant whose name I forget bohemians liked to patronize, mid-block facing the river; and a commerical art gallery next door, Artrageous, whose proprietor, Joan Hunter, was a good, discerning soul helpful to talented unknowns in getting their work sold. People places—

• What year did Fast Eddys close?

• I think 1997 Dave.

• It's great they got rid of these businesses and put in a bank.

  If downtown Windsor needs anything, it's a bank, more bars and vacant buildings.

  Now all we need is a million dollar arena with an unfrozen ice pad.

  And a canal.....