WINDSOR | Construction - News and Development

[RoseCityFreePress]

Drove by the aquatic centre site today, I see a lot of dirt but not that much activity. Anyone know when it really gets underway?

[Symz]

Originally Posted by RoseCityFreePress

Drove by the aquatic centre site today, I see a lot of dirt but not that much activity. Anyone know when it really gets underway?

Patience. It's going to take at least a little while to clear the lot, then there's existing utilities they have to be concerned with. Also you have to factor in that it takes 5x longer for crews to actually complete a construction job in the Windsor area that what it does in say, a city like Toronto. I think the crews mik the work for as long as they can down here.

[north 42]

Originally Posted by cbyrne2014

Long-time lurker, but decided it was finally time to set up an account and start posting. I'm currently going to school in London, but am from the Windsor area and try to keep up-to-date with the happenings back home. Thanks to those who have been keeping the Windsor threads buzzing with activity. It is a pleasure reading your posts and seeing your photos.

Next news item I am most looking forward to is Eddie Francis' State of the City address on April 13. Hopefully some good news announcements come with it.

Glad you made the jump from lurking, we need more Windsor posters on here. I'm hoping to hear something new at the State of the City Address, but I'm not sure if Eddie has anything wrapped up yet to announce. Still waiting for more info about the global financial investment firm that was checking out the market here recently. I'm expecting lots of good things happening in the city this year, so let's keep our fingers crossed that the unemployment rate continues to fall, and that Eddie has lots of luck with all of his hard work to bring investment to our city.

[cbyrne2014]

Originally Posted by north 42

Glad you made the jump from lurking, we need more Windsor posters on here. I'm hoping to hear something new at the State of the City Address, but I'm not sure if Eddie has anything wrapped up yet to announce. Still waiting for more info about the global financial investment firm that was checking out the market here recently. I'm expecting lots of good things happening in the city this year, so let's keep our fingers crossed that the unemployment rate continues to fall, and that Eddie has lots of luck with all of his hard work to bring investment to our city.

I emailed Chris Vander Doelen of the Windsor Star and asked him just that. Apparently the city is still in negotiations with this company and a reliable source of his expects decisions to be made by June.

Good news from Ford today: http://blogs.windsorstar.com/2012/03/28/ford-to-add-third-shift-at-essex-engine-plant/

Ford of Canada will implement a third shift at the Essex Engine Plant to meet rising demand for the F-150 pickup truck, Ford spokeswoman Lauren More confirmed Wednesday.

The move will mean an additional 100 jobs at the plant, which produces the 5.0 litre V8 engine for the F-150 and Ford Mustang.

The plant currently employs about 640 workers on two shifts. The third line will be phased in starting in late April, and will boost production by about 40 per cent, said More.

“Essex Engine is a flexible manufacturing operation and can quickly adjust to changes in the market, so when we have a situation like this when we do need to increase production due to market demand, it’s well positioned to react to that quickly,” More added.

[Symz]

Originally Posted by cbyrne2014

Good news from Ford today: http://blogs.windsorstar.com/2012/03/28/ford-to-add-third-shift-at-essex-engine-plant/

I read about this a few weeks ago. This is good news, 120 people back to work making good money is a good step in the right direction for Windsor finally.

[Symz]

In light of the province's recent stance on brothels and prostitution..


source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/story/2012/03/28/wdr-red-light-district.html

The head of Windsor's downtown business improvement association wants to clean up Windsor's 'sin city' image. It's a job that could be made more difficult in light of Ontario's Court of Appeal softening prostitution laws.

Larry Horwitz, president of the BIA, said the downtown is no place for brothels. His group is trying to attract the university and the college crowd.

"We don't want this on Ouellette and Pellissier and main streets.Those streets are reserved for families; they're reserved for families and college students. And they're reserved for retail and entertainment," Horwitz said.

The Ontario Court of Appeal put a one-year moratorium on brothels to give the federal government a chance to rewrite legislation.

Meanwhile, city solicitor George Wilkki and the city planner are looking at how brothels would be licensed and what zoning they would fall under if they do become legal.

"We have to see if the criteria for adult entertainment is appropriate; if that might apply or if we have different criteria," Wilkki said. "Obviously, we'd have to take [into consideration] staying away from residential areas, churches, schools — all those that would be more heavily impacted by such a use."

Wilkki said if the city ends up with legal brothels, they won't be able to ban them. However, he said setting up a red light district would be a bad idea.

"I think it attracts undesirable elements," he said.

Over the years, the city has had to deal with several brothels or bawdy house. Police can't say how many are operating illegally now or how many prostitutes are plying their trade. Police said they will to continue to enforce the law as usual, but they will consult with the crown attorney now to see if they can make the charges stick.

"We monitor the situation, and what we pay attention to is community safety and complaints that do come in and we will investigate them. What I'm referring to are more complaints with respect to or victims coming forward about being extorted," said Windsor Police Superintendent Vince Power.

Several Detroit media outlets are speculating about whether Windsor will get a red light district.

Mayor Eddie Francis told WDIV in Detroit not to count on it. He said it's not the image Windsor wants.

"Even if this thing does become reality a year from now, you're going to find cities like Windsor taking the steps to ensure that zoning doesn't permit for brothels to take place or to pop up, if you will, in neighbourhoods or in areas that we don't want brothels to be in," Francis said.

Glad to hear. I don't think a red light district would have been a good move.

[RoseCityFreePress]

I don't know how I feel about this one. I don't like the idea of a trashy bawdy house in the middle of a residential area, or some other trashy place opening up in the core like in the past. But if it could be done right and tastefully then it could be a big tourist draw. My thought would be to allow an area where these places could be set up. A gated community idea would probably be best. Hold this area to very high standerds when it comes to area up keep and what not. Amsterdam would have to be our slandered, nothing less

[Symz]

Originally Posted by RoseCityFreePress

I don't know how I feel about this one. I don't like the idea of a trashy bawdy house in the middle of a residential area, or some other trashy place opening up in the core like in the past. But if it could be done right and tastefully then it could be a big tourist draw. My thought would be to allow an area where these places could be set up. A gated community idea would probably be best. Hold this area to very high standerds when it comes to area up keep and what not. Amsterdam would have to be our slandered, nothing less

It could be a draw for people, but where do we put it? That's the real question I guess. I would be more open to the idea if Windsor already didn't have a stigma in regards to massage parlours and bars already.

[Symz]

I keep driving around downtown and checking things out. Ofcourse the aquatic centre is starting, but there's nothing to see yet but hoarding and piles of dirt. I drive past the Palace as well, but no exterior work is showing yet.

Anyone know when they're going to start gutting the barn?

[RoseCityFreePress]

No clue about the barn. It's a nice idea but I'm not completely confident in the development group just based on my small experances with them. When they took over the ice park they promised to refund our money for any sports that had been paid. Took many phone calls and 4 months to get it. I hope this isn't a sign of things to come from them

[Symz]

Originally Posted by RoseCityFreePress

No clue about the barn. It's a nice idea but I'm not completely confident in the development group just based on my small experances with them. When they took over the ice park they promised to refund our money for any sports that had been paid. Took many phone calls and 4 months to get it. I hope this isn't a sign of things to come from them

Well...I don't know what kind of politics are involved with the Ice Park, but I do know the former owners were in receivership.

I hope it turns out to be what they hope it can be.

[RoseCityFreePress]

Word on the street is that the redevelopment of the ice park will come with a new main tenit. Since the barn is becoming a urban market/mall The Windsor Lancers are left with out a home. St.Clair still owns a dressing room at South Windsor that it apparently doesn't want to part with. The chatter im hearing is that the ice park will be developed and built as new home to the University of Windsor Lancers Hockey Program.

[Symz]

Originally Posted by RoseCityFreePress

Word on the street is that the redevelopment of the ice park will come with a new main tenit. Since the barn is becoming a urban market/mall The Windsor Lancers are left with out a home. St.Clair still owns a dressing room at South Windsor that it apparently doesn't want to part with. The chatter im hearing is that the ice park will be developed and built as new home to the University of Windsor Lancers Hockey Program.

Are ya hearing anymore chatter bout anything else??

[Blitz]

Originally Posted by RoseCityFreePress

So I'm guessing the guy that started this thread has never updated the first page?

No need to update it...part of the allure of this forum is that we can see things evolve over time. It's nice (and often funny) to look back at how things were in terms of construction and plans that never worked out. The updates are all found in recent posts.

I've been on this forum for 11 years and for most of that time I was the only active poster. Good to see many others here from the area.

[Symz]

We could use some more Windsor posters in the ranks though! How bout our own section? I see the Waterloo section is more or less idle these days, more idle than the Windsor threads and Windsor is set to ramp up on a few construction projects and still we don't have our own section.

Was there ever a Windsor section?

[RoseCityFreePress]

Originally Posted by Symz

We could use some more Windsor posters in the ranks though! How bout our own section? I see the Waterloo section is more or less idle these days, more idle than the Windsor threads and Windsor is set to ramp up on a few construction projects and still we don't have our own section.

Was there ever a Windsor section?

It's true, seeing "Windsor" under the Canadian city's page would probably help get some traffic in here. I know it was the reason why i found the London page. To say the least the Windsor page isn't the easiest to find

[Blitz]

There was never a Windsor section because there has never been more than 1 or 2 Windsor forumers until recently. I remember several years back when there were lots of Kitchener-Waterloo forumers and so it gained its own section at that time. The forum constantly evolves though and people seem to come and go a lot so you never ultimately know if a separate section will succeed.

[Symz]

Originally Posted by Blitz

There was never a Windsor section because there has never been more than 1 or 2 Windsor forumers until recently. I remember several years back when there were lots of Kitchener-Waterloo forumers and so it gained its own section at that time. The forum constantly evolves though and people seem to come and go a lot so you never ultimately know if a separate section will succeed.

How many active Windsorites or posts would it take to constitute a sub-section?

[Symz]

I took a few more photos of the aquatic centre site today. I will post them, but honestly there's no drastic change to see yet. The other day when I passed by I saw them digging a little deeper down, I imagine they're toying around with utilities at the moment.







I also took a walk past the Palace renovation and everything still looks the same, no exterior work being done yet.

I also took a drive past the train station and it still looks the same as it did a few weeks ago, with portions of the exterior still showing the yellow, waiting for cladding. It seems like the train station is taking forever to complete.

[RoseCityFreePress]

I have a feeling that the Olympic pool portion of the building will go up very fast once underground utility work is done. Followed sadly by normal Windsor construction that will take forever to finish the rest of the building.

Edit:
Update on Windsor becoming its own subsection.
I asked what it would take for this to happen since there are cities like KW that have almost no activity at all. This is what i was told.

Hi!

I discussed your request with the administrators of the forum and we agree that although there seems to be a decent contingent of Windsor forumers with some good activity, we aren't thinking about creating more forums at this time.

Perhaps if the number of Windsor forumers and projects in Windsor increase in the future, we can consider it again if there is interest.

Thanks,

thoughts?