Back in January, a report (which I thought I had, but can’t find…) came across the council agenda, requesting a demolition permit for 666-668 Chatham Street East.
The report stated that based upon inspection the property is structurally sound, and that administration recommended that council deny the request. For what seems like the first time, Council actually listed to administration, and rejected the permit request. The area east of the Casino, is slowly becoming more and more hollowed out. I was happy to see this permit rejected.
However across the street are a pair of turds that have sat vacant and boarded up for years.
This one at the corner of Chatham & Aylmer, has been boarded up like this since it burned in a fire, must be going on three years now… Another eyesore.
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Also – as we kick into the weekend, a few news items to pass along, that you might be interested in.
Rick Fullerton, has released Volume II of “Our Town” about the history of Riverside.
Details above if anyone is interested. He’s located right beside Taloola Cafe in the old Crown Inn building.
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Also Mike Beachamp’s Cross Canada Project is now shipping.
If you missed the local screenings, or if you saw it and want to check it out again at home, head on over to Mike’s website and easily order a copy. Remember they’ll be shipping from New Zealand (Mike’s temporary home) so it will take a little longer than normal to arrive…
From Mike’s site:
The good news is that last week, 2 big boxes of DVD’s arrived for me at work! The bad news is that I’m no longer able to receive packages at work (seriously). The DVD’s look great, and I’ve shipped out all the pre-orders today. I expect they’ll still take a few weeks being shipped air from New Zealand. The DVD packaging contains a clue to a hidden part of the website where I’ve stashed various photos and videos including a downloadable video of the aborted first draft of this movie I did back in January 2006. The inside of the DVD case is very cool too and I put a lot of work into it. It has (in reallllly small text) every journal entry that I wrote during the trip printed on it. So now that I have the DVD’s, orders placed will ship next day. So go buy the dvd!
If you aren’t aware of the Cross Canada Project, the trailer is above.
Have a good weekend everyone. See you back here Monday.
I believe, though not certain, that those boarded up turds are now owned by the City of Windsor.
I too am glad that the house was not allowed to be demo’ed (we know it would be yet another parking lot). But the questin remains. What will happen to the house? Neglect? Remain vacant?
I like seeing that sweet Canadian made Devinci bike Mike rode on for his documentary. One of the best bikes I ever had! I am not sure if Bicycle World still sells them but they were a great Canadian made bike (don’t see that much anymore). If you are looking for a new ride check them out, you won’t be disappointed.
I agree with the posts – seeing the pic of the Riverside Brewery got me thinking what is going on with that place? I know they store sand and stuff at the site, but to me it’s a big blight on the waterfront, on the city’s premiere road. I’d love to see it gone, along with the sand piles.
Any news/status on it?
It’s nice to know that the City CAN on occasion reject a demolition request, but can or will they follow up on motivating the owner to maintain it?
JB – Agree the brewery in it’s current state is a bit of an eyesore, but I’d hate to see it torn down. Windsor has so few of those old warehouses nowadays. Would love to see it converted to lofts of some sort.
Andrew
Thanks for the heads up on the Our Town book, I picked up on this morning. A friend bought me a copy of Volumn 1 back in Dec. It is hard to find good books on Windsor’s History.
The administration is dumb. Why keep it? Who lived there that made the house so significant? There’s no gingerbread on it. The porch is crooked. The shingles are shot. The pink, red and white colour scheme makes no sense. It’s a small, plain, boring bungalow. No brick anywhere. The inside was probably laid to waste by some former crackhead tenant. It’s a hunk of junk that encourages crackheads to live in this area. It’s also smack dab in the middle of vacant land, which is hindering any possible development of something decent by combining the neighbouring lots. No wonder this city blows. We knock down beautiful buildings like the Prince of Wales Public School and stonewall and flock to defend turds like this. If preservation in the city is going to work, you’ve got to choose your battles wisely. This makes no sense at all.
I agree. That ground would become parking lot. The Airace and Firework are perfect examples of abusing this area. Rejecting demolition permit is not an answer, as owner (if he exist) will have to eventualy give up, unless he has so much money that he doesn’t know what to do with it.
One of solutions that could be done is to place metal fence around lot. Anyway time will show what will happen with this area.
I enjoyed the first Riverside book, I just wish it wasn’t coiled.
ME – In the movie you see him go to Bicycle World to get outfitted…
ME, bicycle world still does carry those bikes. I’m still riding my 14 year old Rocky Mountain bike I got at Tri Sports too, which is also Canadian made.
Thanks for posting the info for Mike!