SANDWICH TOWNE REBOUND
Businesses optimistic in the west end
Anchor businesses heralded as game-changers for Sandwich Towne have closed their doors, but there are green shoots rising, a major public sector project in full swing and the promise of monuments soon to come. Westside Foods, a grocery store that catered to scores of seniors and the carless, has been shuttered and put on the market for $950,000. The Post Cafe, which opened two years ago in the historic post office building — securing a city heritage award for a $1-million renovation project — has also been closed. Courtesy Cycle, a long-standing neighbourhood cycling shop, sits vacant and for sale or lease following the owner’s retirement. The vacant grocery store, with an exterior wall featuring a mural of historic black figures like Mary Shadd and detective Alton Parker, sits at the end of a strip of Sandwich Street that is otherwise bustling, with several popular watering holes and an expanding brewery.
There’s now an artist with a studio and gallery featuring pictures and wood carvings of Bob Marley and Barack Obama and, on Monday, a new law office opened. Fabio Costante was knee-deep in sawdust and construction debris as he showed off his new digs last week in the historic Robinet building, which features a dark, tin ceiling. There is a boardroom with a view of the post office building and a spacious area for paralegal interns and community groups. Costante signed a five-year lease and left a commercial firm, he said, because he’s committed to the west side. Costante knows the history of Sandwich and can reel off the first names of all the merchants on the strip. He started a blog called Our West End that has grown into a community collaborative with United Way funding that oversees a roundtable of residential leaders from four distinct west-side neighbourhoods.
“The history and the potential of this community is awesome. It’s arguably the most historic neighbourhood in the entire region,” said Costante. “This could be the next Walkerville. It has the potential to be a really, hip neighbourhood that attracts young families.” Artist Jeffrey Gregory opened his studio and gallery, Art For Everything, on the strip several months ago and loves the history and vibe of “calm and peaceful” Sandwich. He moved to Windsor from Toronto, where he’d lived since emigrating from Jamaica in 1990. “When I came here, it was like God sent me here,” said Gregory. “I just have a love for this neighbourhood. I feel at home.” Another bright light on the strip is the Sandwich Brewing Company, which is building a patio out back that will feature authentic German biergarten tables imported from Europe. Co-owner Nicole Sekela said she was optimistic about the Sandwich Archway coming later this summer but the grocery store is sadly missed by her and others.
The store was purchased by a family from Toronto but was closed following a death in the family. Realtor Mark Bloomfield put the 7,500-square-foot building on the market two weeks ago and is approaching chain grocers to gauge interest because the store was a “big staple” in the neighbourhood. Ming Feng ’s parents live across the street and frequented Westside Foods before it closed. Proximity to the store was one of the key reasons they opted to remain in Sandwich instead of moving closer to their son in South Windsor. “They didn’t have to worry about where to shop for food. They didn’t have to worry about driving,” said Feng. “It was such a shock to see them close.”
Costante said the store’s closure has created a “bit of a void” in Sandwich.
“There are a lot of seniors in the neighbourhood and a lot of them used that grocery store,” he said, pointing out the closest grocery store was now across busy Huron Church Road at Tecumseh Road. “It’s a bit of a trek if you are a senior or don’t have a car.” Ward 2 Coun. John Elliott said the community was “disappointed” by the store’s closure because the owners had been connecting with residents and he was hopeful another grocer would rise in its place. “Hopefully, someone will come along and open it back up because it’s needed in the community,” he said.
Elliott and Costante could well be squaring off against each other in October’s municipal election. Elliott filed his papers at City Hall on May 23, becoming the first sitting Windsor councillor to do so. Costante, a school board trustee, said many people have asked him about a council bid and he is “seriously thinking about it.” Syed Alamgir of the Community Food Mart on Sandwich has stepped in to fill some of the void created by the grocer’s departure. He has always sold Halal products but now stocks some fresh fruits and vegetables.
The West Side Farmers’ Market has also stepped up, selling bedding plants, collectibles, meat pies from Bedford United Church and fresh produce behind the former Forster High School on Saturdays and Sundays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Market organizer Bill Voakes said Sandwich has a long history of farmers’ markets, which would pop up to serve crews from boats docked on the Detroit River. “It’s never been more important than it is now,” he said. “We’ve lost our local grocery store.” Voakes said farmers’ markets attract shoppers who will spend money in restaurants and other stores but bemoaned the lack of retail in Sandwich.
“There is no retail in Sandwich. There’s a lot of bars and a lot of eating but there’s very little retail,” he said. “It’s not ‘let’s go to Sandwich and shop.’ That’s what farmers’ markets are for, to bring people here to shop.”
Nothing has sprung up to fill the void created by the closure of the Post Cafe, which opened with considerable fanfare in 2016 at the corner of Sandwich and Mill Streets. The owners had plans to transform the second floor of the red brick building into a bed and breakfast and the third floor into living quarters, but the doors are locked, the cafe is closed and the future uncertain.
One of the partners said work stopped on the site because of complications and delays involved with getting a permit from the city. She said the building wasn’t for sale but that the owners were willing to entertain lease offers. Just around the corner, at 363 Mill St., construction crews are busy transforming the historic Sandwich Fire Hall into a modern library as part of a $5.5-million project. The project is on budget and scheduled to open in February 2019, said Windsor Public Library CEO Kitty Pope. “They’re working like gangbusters on that one,” said Elliott. “There are some good things coming.”
In June or July, Elliott expects the city to install an arch over Sandwich Street and erect on the new roundabout a monument to Tecumseh and Gen. Isaac Brock. “It’s something that people are going to come to see. It’s beautiful,” said Elliott.
We are not back to the bargaining table. I want to be very clear ... The mediator will help us have some discussion to see if we can get back to the bargaining table. It’s a step in the right direction. UNIFOR LOCAL 444’S DAVE CASSIDY ON THE IMPASSE BETWEEN CAESARS WINDSOR AND STRIKING WORKERS.
It’s arguably the most historic neighbourhood intheentire region. This could be the next Walkerville.