Fort Erie still getting Swiss Chalet and Harvey’s
It’s just going to take a little longer, site owner says
Terry St. Amand wants to set the record straight.
Although a sign advertising a new Harvey’s-Swiss Chalet location coming to Fort Erie has been removed, that does not mean the quick-service chains operated by Recipe Unlimited are not coming to town. It’s just going to take a little longer than the Welland man anticipated.
“We got a little ahead of ourselves,” St. Amand said. “They asked us to take it down.”
That was enough to fuel the social media rumour mill, which was working overtime as residents tried to figure out why the sign at the Garrison Road site had been removed.
“I knew it was too good to be true,” wrote one Facebook user on the group Fort Erie Questions and Answers.
“Heard the ground sample was not good,” wrote another.
The one-acre site where the restaurants are to be built is part of an eight-acre parcel of land owned by St. Amand. The other seven acres are up for sale. The site was once home to Lucidol, which made chemical for the rubber industry. The building was demolished, and remediation work was carried out to clean up the property.
There is no truth to the rumours of a bad soil sample.
“It was all cleaned up,” St. Amand said. “It has been certified safe.”
Most of the delay stems from a cautious approach being taken by Recipe Unlimited.
“The bottom line is they want to get this right,” St. Amand said.
He said that work is continuing on the final design for the restaurants, as well as the search for an operator.
“It’s painstaking work,” St. Amand said. “But it’s time worth taking.”
St. Amand and members of his family have a long association with the two brands.
His daughter, Lisa Lynchehaun, owns the Harvey’s in Port Colborne. Lynchehaun's mother, Diane Elliott, and her husband, Ron, own two Harvey's locations
in St. Catharines.
St. Amand had originally hoped for shovels to be in the ground this fall and the restaurants to be in operation in the spring of 2020. He said it now looks like work won’t begin at the site until spring.
It is expected the combined restaurants will provide 100 fulland part-time jobs.
“The bottom line is they want to get this right,” St. Amand said.
He said that work is continuing on the final design for the restaurants, as well as the search for an operator.
“It’s painstaking work,” St. Amand said. “But it’s time worth taking.”
St. Amand and members of his family have a long association with the two brands.
His daughter, Lisa Lynchehaun, owns the Harvey’s in Port Colborne. Lynchehaun's mother, Diane Elliott, and her husband, Ron, own two Harvey’s locations in St. Catharines.
St. Amand had originally hoped for shovels to be in the ground this fall and the restaurants to be in operation in the spring of 2020. He said it now looks like work won’t begin at the site until spring. It is expected the restaurants will provide 100 full- and part-time jobs.