City Administration Recommends Denying Request To Demolish Indian Road Homes

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Photo from a fire at a house on Indian Road in 2008

A request from Gagnon Demolition Inc on behalf of the Canadian Transit Company to demolish 75 homes in the Olde Sandwich Town area is being denied by City of Windsor administration. The homes in question have been vacant for years and have sat boarded up in the shadow of the Ambassador Bridge.

A City report says that 31 of these homes fall under the Sandwich Heritage Conservation District Plan, which was passed by Windsor City Council in 2007 to ensure buildings are not demolished that will have the effect of removing viable housing stick from the area. These homes are on Indian Road, Peter Street, University Avenue West and Donnelly Street.

Because these homes fall in the Heritage Conservation District, they are considered heritage buildings by the City of Windsor, and the heritage act requires City Council approval for the demolition. A report is being prepared on each home for a future council meeting.

A demolition control by-law in the area prevents the other 44 homes from being torn down without City Council approval. The city report says that building inspectors have visited the homes on a monthly basis over the past four years, and that there are no orders to repair issues on any of the 44 homes.

The report says that “Today, the buildings remain viable housing stock.”

The report goes to city council tonight, but a request to defer this matter was submitted by Dan Stamper of the Canadian Transit Company on Friday. The letter says the Transit Company “Look[s] forward to continuing further discussions with the city” in regards to the properties.