DEADLINE LOOMING FOR SALE OF WINDSOR JAIL
Mayor calls on private developers to spearhead project
With a Friday deadline looming for the Ontario government to receive offers for its Windsor Jail property, Mayor Drew Dilkens is making an appeal to local developers.
“The city would love to work with a private developer to find a reuse for the jail site, and that would mean the city putting money on the table,” he said Thursday, as he explained the pinch the city is in — needing the parking lot portion of the jail property for visitors to the city-owned Mackenzie Hall, possibly wanting the jail’s 1877 registry building, but not wanting the financial burden of the actual 1925 jail. Provincial officials have made it clear they won’t split the property up, giving the parking lot and registry to the city, the mayor said. And council has decided it will not take the entire property — offered for $1 — because it has no plan for the jail building. It would cost $400,000 a year just to keep it closed, he said. “And we know that to do redevelopment right there would take upwards of $20, $30, $40 million, and it’s not something we’re prepared to do at this point. “The jail is very important to me and it’s important to members of council, but we can’t jump in as a city and rescue every old building. There just isn’t enough tax money to do it.”
The mayor and council are being urged by Sandwich business and community groups, as well as Architectural Conservancy Ontario, to make a bid for the property or ask for an extension to the Friday deadline.
“We believe that the preservation of our heritage and history is paramount to the viability of (Sandwich) and the businesses therein,” writes Dr. Gregg Habnak, chairman of the Sandwich Improvement Area. While the ACO wants all three parts of the property saved, the improvement area and Friends of the Court (the volunteer group supporting Mackenzie Hall) say they recognize that saving the jail might not be possible.
The site was part of the original 1797 plan for the Town of Sandwich and the judicial/administrative core of Upper Canada’s Western District, Friends of the Court president Don Wilson says in a letter to the mayor and council, which acknowledges the many problems associated with renovating the old asbestos-filled jail.
“The cost of the work for the 1920s jail is probably prohibitive,” and despite its heritage designation, “demolition may be the only practical alternative.” But the registry building is of “great importance historically and architecturally,” he added. And the parking lot is “integral” to Mackenzie Hall’s operation.
But Dilkens is leery of the city buying the entire property and demolishing the jail. Dilkens said it’s a historic building.
“I really can’t imagine Sandwich Town without the jail there. It would be like a missing tooth in a smile,” the mayor said. And demolition would be costly, probably similar to the cost about to be paid to demolish the old city hall. He said the hope is that the province “cares equally about heritage as we do,” as it decides on what to do with the building, which became vacant when the jail operation was transferred to the new South West Detention Centre in 2014. “My heart and my brain are saying two different things,” Dilkens said. His heart says to do whatever he can to save the jail building. “But my brain says, ‘Listen, you have a lot of things going on in the city and you don’t have an extra $20-to-$30 million available to undertake this one project, which you don’t have a use for,’ ” he continued.
He said the city worked with a private developer about a potential reuse for the jail, but after researching what it would take, the developer concluded making a profit wasn’t possible even with the city pitching in. Infrastructure Ontario plans to review any offers after Friday’s deadlines and then make recommendations. Officials from the government couldn’t be reached Thursday.
Dilkens said if a private firm did buy the property, the city would probably try to negotiate a lease for the parking lot for Mackenzie Hall visitors.
And if that wasn’t possible, the city could look at expropriating the parking lot, which has been used by the public — without a charge — for decades. Councillor-elect Fabio Costante is anxious to be sworn in Dec. 3 so he can learn about council’s incamera discussions around the property.
“It’s such an important piece to the redevelopment of Sandwich, and frankly, it’s right in the heart of Sandwich,” he said, remarking that the Brock/Sandwich intersection is known as the Four Corners of Freedom, with the Mackenzie Hall/Jail block called the justice block. At minimum, the parking lot and registry should be saved, he said.
There’s been talk that the registry would be an ideal location for the city’s archives.