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“Speak about cash going up in flames.”
Ward 3 Coun. Renaldo Agostino stated final week’s large blaze that not solely burnt down a century residence on the downtown’s southern entrance, it additionally took away a big piece of city paintings that value him $3,000.
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“I’m not gonna miss it, however that’s three grand I put out for paint,” he informed the Windsor Star.
Simply 4 days after fireplace ripped via the fenced-off, long-vacant construction at 841 Ouellette Avenue, crews and heavy equipment have been already busy on Monday, tearing down the leftovers close to the intersection with Elliott Road.
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For nearly a yr, metropolis council’s downtown consultant stated he’d been pushing and prodding the out-of-town landlord to do one thing with the “eyesore” on the gateway to Windsor’s downtown. Final fall, Agostino provided and was granted permission to let some native mural artists go at it with pails of paint. It turned the Rainbow Home.
“Each week, I’m calling these guys, placing on stress,” stated Agostino, recognized even earlier than his 2022 election to council as an enormous booster and promoter of downtown Windsor.
“Satirically,” he added, the identical day of the in a single day fireplace final Thursday, sturdier new fencing was anticipated to go up. He stated work was lastly anticipated to start by the tip of this month.
“Clearly, they’re disenchanted,” he stated of the house owners and the architect designing the construction’s future use.
Agostino stated the plan at one level was to renovate the historic home and open a pharmacy. Later, the intention was for a pharmacy “with some residences.”
Now, it’ll be vacant, similar to the encircling property owned by the Downtown Mission. With the newest phrase from the mission that it hopes to maneuver its operations nearer to town’s proposed Homelessness and Housing Assist Hub additional to the west, Agostino stated there’s new potential for the world.
Windsor police are investigating the hearth, which is being handled as suspicious.
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Agostino needs to see extra housing, together with for the location of the previous Windsor library essential department immediately throughout Ouellette Avenue.
“All the pieces we’re taking a look at from a improvement standpoint within the downtown now ought to be housing,” Agostino stated.
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