WINDSOR | Construction - News and Development

[Symz]

Well, it's apparent there is no movement on development of The Barn for now

source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/story/2012/08/23/wdr-hocket-at-windsor-arena.html

Hockey resurfaces at Windsor Arena

Hockey will resurface at the old Windsor Arena in September.

The University of Windsor men's hockey coach, Kevin Hamlin, said the Lancers will continue playing at the facility, commonly known as "The Barn", this season.

"We were fairly surprised. It's part of the problem when you don't own your own facility; you're at the mercy of the city. We feel fine wherever we are going to play," said Hamlin.

It was believed the 84-year-old arena saw its last hockey game March 2 when the Windsor Lancers were defeated by the Western Mustangs.

"For our purposes it's very difficult to create an atmosphere at 'The Barn' with fans, but we're just happy to have a place to play," said Hamlin.

The uncertainty will continue, he said, until the University of Windsor either purchases or builds its own hockey arena.

Hamlin said he was notified a month ago by senior university staff that the team may return to The Barn.

Urban mall still a possibility
Local developers James and Leigh Anne King announced they wanted to turn it into an urban mall with vendor kiosks, a butcher shop, a café and other retail spaces.

The city and the developers are still in talks about the urban mall, but at this point city officials said the developers are not ready to move forward.

Recreation and culture executive director Jan Wilson said some groups have expressed the desire to use the city-owned arena.

"The city and the Kings have not reached a final agreement yet. So, until such time as that's fully completed, we'll operate the rink for this season rather than have it be empty," said Wilson.

City CAO Helga Reidel confirms with CBC News the plans are still on the table.

"It has taken longer than we thought already and I wouldn't be in a position to put a timeline to it," said Reidel.

"It's a very important asset for the city ... I think everyone is being careful," she said.

The city said an ice rink will be in place by the first week of September.

Hamlin said training camp for the men's Lancers team starts Sept. 4.

I was hyped up for this development.

[north 42]

Yeah, I'm not too happy that this project is on the back burner. I wish everyone involved in this development would do everything possible to make this happen, we need this badly. It would make such a huge difference in the core to have a nice, big market again. I would love to know just what the problem is in getting this started. I have heard that parking was an issue, but I wonder if there are any other issues that we haven't heard about yet.

[Symz]

This is a duplicate post from the Construction sites in your city thread that I made.

Here is the new South West Detention Centre that is replacing Windsor's current jail which was built in 1926.






The new Windsor Star building that is taking over the old Palace theatre downtown. They've gutted the building and are recladding it.





Windsor's new aquatic centre






The Windsor Essex Parkway















Source: www.windsorstar.com

[RoseCityFreePress]

This is just a passing idea I had of developing some under used lands in windsor so better connect the city in terms of personal transportation. Now before anyone jumps at this, this is an idea if money was not a big issue. I think this would have the smallest impact on the people around it. In some cases around the rail yards it would bridge central and west windsor. Something that most Canadian cities had problems with is building highways the connect the downtown core of major cities to the outer edge of town or the the trans-Canada. This idea would connect the west end of downtown to EC Row, which in turn connects it to The W-E parkway and the New Bridge. What do you think, is there a better way to do this?
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[sa230e]

Originally Posted by RoseCityFreePress

This is just a passing idea I had of developing some under used lands in windsor so better connect the city in terms of personal transportation. Now before anyone jumps at this, this is an idea if money was not a big issue. I think this would have the smallest impact on the people around it. In some cases around the rail yards it would bridge central and west windsor. Something that most Canadian cities had problems with is building highways the connect the downtown core of major cities to the outer edge of town or the the trans-Canada. This idea would connect the west end of downtown to EC Row, which in turn connects it to The W-E parkway and the New Bridge. What do you think, is there a better way to do this?
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Well the Dougall and Howard interchanges on E.C. Row are already spaced way too close as it is. There's no way you'll fit a major freeway-to-freeway interchange in there (unless you do a MAJOR reconfiguration). And even if you did the route seems to cut right through Zalev's, no?

[RoseCityFreePress]

Originally Posted by sa230e

Well the Dougall and Howard interchanges on E.C. Row are already spaced way too close as it is. There's no way you'll fit a major freeway-to-freeway interchange in there (unless you do a MAJOR reconfiguration). And even if you did the route seems to cut right through Zalev's, no?

yes, and hopefully that means it gets to disappear forever

[FenderStrat]

I don't quite understand this proposal. You propose to eliminate both the CP Rail yard as well as the CN Rail yard because they are "under utilized."

How are our cities remaining rail serviced industries supposed to ship their product?

Hundreds of Chrysler minivans per day are loaded onto trains in the CP Rail yard. Major industries such as ADM in West Windsor rely heavily on railroads to ship grain, etc.

How does adding hundreds more trucks to our streets by eliminating railroad infrastructure solve any problems?

I don't mean any disrespect to you in my argument, but I don't understand how on one hand, many people tout mass transit systems, light rail, etc, but want to eliminate all of our freight rail lines. Our manufacturing industry may be in a slump right now, but one way to guarantee that it never recovers is to eliminate our rail infrastructure.

I know that freight trains are "ugly" but they are FAR more friendly for our environment than hundreds of individual trucks shipping everything. Just imagine how much nicer it would be if all the freight travelling down the 401 every day was being shipped by rail.

[Symz]

I have to side with Fender on this in some ways. I know some time was spent on this project but I don't see it feasible or necessary in any way. I've never found driving downtown from the expressway via Dougall to Ouellette a major problem. According to Google maps from Dougall & West Grand (as close to the expressway offramp as I could get) to the Chrysler building at the foot of Ouellette and Riverside is only 5.6km. So it's not really that far of a trek before you are as far downtown as you can go.

I will agree that the fact that the train lines are there do serve to sort of sever the west side of the city from the central and eastern part of the city but that doesnt' mean they don't still serve an important purpose being there.

The biggest transportation issues in Windsor have usually been moving from East-to-West and vice versa, hence the expressway. Wyandotte is a big commuter road (which by the way needs road work, looking at you Mr. Mayor). Riverside is always jammed with cars at commuter hours as well. Tecumseh is Tecumseh, a major east-west arterial with a bulk of our commercial businesses on it. Cabana I would say needs to be widened it's entire length (go take a drive around St. Clair College during school especially in the morning, or check out the eastern end at Lauzon during rush hour).

As for north-south in this city, well, they are widening Walker from the expressway to Cabana which is a good thing. As it stands right now there are no turning lanes for Walker in that stretch and there are a lot of commercial businesses there so that will bring relief.

Huron Church will eventually have less trucks (or no trucks) on it when the new bridge is built (if). Lauzon-Lauzon Parkway now moves people very efficiently north-south through the eastern edge of the city.

Lauzon Parkway does need to be extended and connect to the 401 which is the intention as the city has already done studies on this potential project.

Jefferson & Pillette are both busy roads and still move people pretty well but suffer from awkward grading at the rail tracks at both ends of South National.

Coinciding with your ideas I think that maybe both Howard and Dominion/Campbell could be bulked up to move traffic north-south in the central part of the city as both roads narrow as they approach the downtown.

When it comes to roads honestly right now I'm more concerned with the core of the city and how the Aquatic Centre now cuts off both Pitt & Chatham streets downtown and yet the western portions of those streets will still be one ways which I think is no longer needed since they are now severed from the core and that stretch of those streets is only 2 blocks long.

I'm also concerned with the cutting off of Goyeau downtown for the tunnel. I think getting around downtown is going to be a bit of a pain in the ass after these 2 projects are done and I have my concerns for those blocks west of the Aquatic Centre once they're cut off.

[Symz]

There was a recent article about the Pitt for Pasta is closing. It turns out the restaurant's owners lease is up and there is a new owner for the building and I guess they couldn't come to terms on a lease agreement. My guess is the rent is going up..

There are no plans revealed for this location yet.

Anyways, what a shame, I hope they can reopen somewhere else and they keep the establishment downtown instead of a rumoured move to Tecumseh (from a subsequent article).

The part in this article that caught my attention is bolded at the bottom. It turns out the former Million Dollar Saloon on Chatham will be turned into a Pharmacy on the ground floor and Physiotherapy upstairs.

source: http://blogs.windsorstar.com/2012/08/30/...wntown-building-pitt-for-pasta-to-close/

Former strip club owners buy downtown building; Pitt for Pasta to close

Owners of the former Million Dollar Saloon have purchased the downtown Chatham Street building which is home to the Pitt for Pasta restaurant and Koko Pellies bar.

John and Kim Vangeloff of Windsor, plus a Toronto partner, are the new owners, but did not want to comment on their plans when contacted on Thursday.

“We will announce something in about a month,” said John Vangeloff. “We have no comment right now.”

The new owners have already put a For Lease sign up at the Pitt for Pasta restaurant whose owners have announced they will shut down for business Sept. 22 after seven years at its current Chatham Street location.

The long-time downtown restaurant originally operated a block away on Pitt Street West for five years during the 1990s, but was displaced with the construction of the Candarel building. The Italian eatery was also briefly located at the Quality Suites hotel, also on Chatham Street.

The restaurant’s co-owner George Kircos was shocked by the sudden sale earlier this month and said Thursday an agreement on the rent could not be reached with the new owners, forcing it to shut down.

“There are new landlords and the rent is going up considerably,” Kircos said. “We believe what we were paying was a fair downtown price and couldn’t reach a new agreement.

“We are shocked and disappointed that this has all happened so fast. We are very grateful to our customers who have been supporting us for years.”

His partner Chris Vassilliou is planning to retire, while Kircos said he will review his options over the next month or two to determine whether he may reopen Pitt for Pasta elsewhere or go into another restaurant venture.

The owner of Pause coffee shop a few doors away on Chatham Street called the news disappointing.

“The Pitt for Pasta has built up more of a mature, upscale clientele,” said Ryan Smith.

He is among those who have heard rumours the building will be converted to a strip club. The Vangeloff brothers still hold the strip club license from the Million Dollar Saloon which apparently can be transferred to another location as long as it’s within a short distance, he said.

The Million Dollar sits two blocks away on Chatham Street East and closed in 2009 after over 20 years in business as an adult entertainment venue.

Should the building be converted to an adult entertainment venue, it would be two doors away from Cheetah’s – another strip club.

“It’s just a rumour right now and anything is better than a For Lease sign,” Smith said. “But I’d rather not have then both on one block. Right now, there is a good mix of bars, restaurants and clubs. I like the mix. You don’t want too much of one thing in the same block, no matter what it is.”

But Kircos doesn’t believe the new owners will convert the building into a strip club.

“The owner of Koko Pellies still has another year on his lease and they can’t just run him out,” he said. “I think they just believe they can get higher rent and wait until they get it.”

Meanwhile, plans are in the works to convert the former Million Dollar building at 38 Chatham St. E. – which has largely sat idle since closing as a strip club – into a pharmacy on the lower level with physiotherapy offered in the upstairs portion of the building, which in its previous life was the offices for CAW Local 98.

[Blitz]

After living in London for several years, I have no complaints at all about Windsor's road network.

[north 42]

I agree, our roads have had many improvements in the last ten years, and our mayor and council are to thank. We are light years ahead of where we were, and all this was accomplished in very tough economic times.
I do feel that eventually an LRT route going from DT to the far eastern suburbs would be successful with all the growth out that way. We need to plan now get things going, much like K-W is doing.

[Symz]

Originally Posted by Blitz

After living in London for several years, I have no complaints at all about Windsor's road network.

I always hear getting around in London is a pain.

[Blitz]

It's easy to poke fun at the expressway as the design isn't that great but at least we have a crosstown expressway - and there's ample room to expand to 6 or 8 lanes when needed. I think the province should play more of a role in maintaining it and bringing signage up to standards...but that's wishful thinking.

[Symz]

Ice Park update

source: http://ctvwindsor.ca/
• Video Link

[sa230e]

Originally Posted by Blitz

It's easy to poke fun at the expressway as the design isn't that great but at least we have a crosstown expressway - and there's ample room to expand to 6 or 8 lanes when needed. I think the province should play more of a role in maintaining it and bringing signage up to standards...but that's wishful thinking.

They probably could, it is a 7000 series road so it's still under their jurisdiction, isn't it? And of course the portion between Huron Church and Ojibway Parkway will be totally rebuilt with the Windsor Essex Parkway project.

[Symz]

Here's an update on the Aquatic Centre, screenshot taken from the city's webcam.

source: http://www.citywindsor.ca/mayorandcounci...Pages/Family-Aquatic-Complex-Camera.aspx



A small update on the the new Windsor Star hq downtown as well.

source: http://www.windsorstar.com/Updated+Photos+Star+building+takes+shape/7060133/story.html



These 2 photos are by me





I'm eager to see this big screen they're supposedly installing on the corner. I hope the corner will still have the ticker sign that was shown in the render.

The poles will be either painted or clad to match the new colour scheme of the building.

[north 42]

So those are gonna be two big screens on the corner? I really hope so, it would add so much life to that intersection. I thought that they were only gonna be large Windsor Star signs. I'm pretty sure that the ticker tape is still going to wrap around the building along that strip on the bottom. Can't wait to se it finished, they said it should be done by November sometime.

[Riversideguy]

Originally Posted by Symz

Here's an update on the Aquatic Centre, screenshot taken from the city's webcam.

source: http://www.citywindsor.ca/mayorandcounci...Pages/Family-Aquatic-Complex-Camera.aspx



A small update on the the new Windsor Star hq downtown as well.

source: http://www.windsorstar.com/Updated+Photos+Star+building+takes+shape/7060133/story.html



These 2 photos are by me





I'm eager to see this big screen they're supposedly installing on the corner. I hope the corner will still have the ticker sign that was shown in the render.

The poles will be either painted or clad to match the new colour scheme of the building.

I gotta tell you every month when I get the Business Windsor Magazine there is an ad for space lease and it does not have the scroll. It also looks perfect to what you see them doing. Check out the mag.

[Symz]

A photo tour of the open, yet still under construction University of Windsor's Ed Lumley Centre for Engineering Innovation.

photos courtesy of: http://windsorite.ca/2012/09/photos-firs...ndsor-centre-for-engineering-innovation/

It’s the first day of class for students at the University of Windsor’s brand-new, state-of-the-art, $110-million dollar Ed Lumley Centre for Engineering Innovation and windsoriteDOTca joined students to take a look at the now-open, but still under-construction building.

Laboratory facilities opened for Engineering students this morning and the remainder of the building, including classroom space, is expected to see its first day next Monday, September 24th.

Construction crews are putting the finishing touches on the inside of the building. Terazzo floors have yet to be installed, electricians are working on finalizing fixtures and outlets, glass railings have yet to be installed and are secured with plywood placeholders and furniture is being set up in classrooms.

In this picture you can see the site of the planned parking garage and new visitor's centre across the street.

[realcity]

Those curved hallways are cool.

I want to know, as an outsider, what is the word around town about closing the casino?

I think imo that the OLG is making huge mistakes, closing Windsor and Fort Erie, cities that need the casinos, just to get out of the business of horse racing. To a tune of 200$billion, that the gov needs for all-day day-care, kindergarten.