A neat view of Ouellette Avenue looking north towards Wyandotte street, from about the mid 1960’s.
This corner is my favourite part of the card. The Johnson & McWhinnie designed Bank of Montreal Building, that was sadly reclad in the mid 1990’s, but beyond that, I love the wall of neon signs. It looks then, like a much bigger city than it is today.
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The buildings were much nicer back then Rob. We had more styles of architecture, larger buildings and more of them. This creates density and a closeness you don't get with today's vacant lot downtown.
Sure the streetscaping is better today but the buildings we have downtown are an outright sin.
Gary, good points except for the patios. We need more of them not less.
I remember this corner really well. My father had a restaurant on Wyandotte St. E., right across the street from the TD Bank. Been looking for a picture but no luck.
I left Windsor in June 1969 and have lived in Ottawa most of the time since. I remember how pleasant downtown Windsor was in the 1960's. Much of it had to do with the fact that there was an active commercial life on Ouellette Ave. and that there were buildings with character. I agree with many other commenters here that much of that has been destroyed by the careless destruction of historic buildings and the spread of unattractive, unappealing strip malls across the city. I disagree that densification is the answer. That just produces more congestion. What other cities have found works is the establishment of an attractive area near downtown that has attractive places for people to congregate, walk and visit fascinating pubs, restaurants and shops. Winnipeg has such a site at the Forks, Ottawa has the Byward Market and even awful Toronto has the the Kensington Market. Th charm can come from historic buildings but, as Windsor has destroyed those, the charm would have to come from fountains, squares, and other pedestrian-friendly places where people would like to go. An essential element is adequate parking and safety (i.e. adequate policing). Cities that declare war on cars and focus just public transit just don't get it. I remember Windsor very fondly. In thirty years, it could have a vibrant downtown again.
I'm 45 years old and I'm old enough to remember a booming downtown full of construction cranes and lots of foot traffic. Then Free Trade, NAFTA, the GST, the newly-elected NDP provincial government cancelling the former Liberal government's plans to move the ministry of Labour to Windsor, and John Milson quitting the mayor's office after only one term and you have the makings of the downtown Windsor we know today. Milson was the best mayor Windsor ever had and I'm 100% positive that downtown would be in a lot better shape had he stayed on as mayor,
Quite a strech to call a one term mayor the best we ever had, he probably saw the handwriting on the wall and did't want to get blamed for.
The buildings on the East corner of Oullette and Wyandotte don't appear in the photos. I understand that the building that occupied that corner in 1921 was St. Ureula. Does anyone know what this establishment was? Was it another nunnery?
Bob, I'm not sure what you mean. The northeast corner has the old TD Bank and the southeast corner is not visible. But I'm not aware of anything being on the southeast corner before the Douglas Building.
http://internationalmetropolis.com/2011/05/27/33-wyandotte-street-east-1948/