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More than a dozen west Windsor homes — long ago bought, emptied and left to rot by the owners of the Ambassador Bridge — are being demolished.
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Excavators last week made mincemeat out of boarded-up houses on Indian Road that are owned by the Canadian Transit Company, the Canadian arm of the company that owns the international crossing.
In an email to the Star, the city’s building department said the houses were not protected by the Sandwich Town demolition control bylaw, which has for decades prevented the bridge company from tearing down other derelict dwellings it owns in the historic neighbourhood.
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The city recently issued 14 demolition permits for properties on Indian Road and Rosedale Avenue, staff said. Five more demolition applications are still under review.
The subject demolitions, the city said, are on lands associated with the Ambassador Bridge’s plan for a future secondary inspection plaza.
Since the 1990s, the bridge company has accumulated properties in the area, initially to construct a proposed second bridge span. The Moroun family, the company’s owner, has seemingly abandoned the idea.
However, it appears it’s preparing to build a new secondary truck inspection plaza closer to the foot of the bridge, conversations about which have been underway with city hall for years. Piles of steel beams have occupied empty lots next to the Ambassador Bridge on Indian Road for months.
The current secondary inspection plaza is located two kilometres away off Malden Road.
A spokesperson for the bridge company could not be reached for comment on Friday.
Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens told reporters last week the city and the bridge company, which have historically had a sour relationship over demolishing properties, are working towards an agreement on a number of issues.
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“We continue to work with the Ambassador Bridge on a pathway forward that helps resolve all of the issues that exist between the city and the Ambassador Bridge,” Dilkens said following an unrelated news conference on Thursday.
“Progress is moving, but it’s slow — it’s no one’s fault.”
The years-long fight between the city and the Ambassador Bridge owners over dilapidated homes along Indian Road even reached the Supreme Court of Canada, which ruled in favour of the municipality in a 2016 decision.
Dilkens said last week that “proper legal work and expertise” is required to resolve some of the long-standing disputes.
“We’ve got a great relationship with the Ambassador Bridge, with Mr. Moroun, trying to get to the other side of this.
“I’m very positive that we’re going to find common ground that resolves the issues, but also, ultimately, at the end of the day, does what we’ve been trying to do all along, which is protect Sandwich Town, the oldest part of our city.”
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