Final decision on demolitions Monday
The fate of The Pig’ s Ear and The Black Horse will likely be decided on Monday.
City council is expected to vote a final time on a plan to allow a local developer – Parkview Homes – to tear down the two historic buildings, which house popular taverns, and build a pair of apartment buildings.
Councillors already gave preliminary approval to the plan.
On Monday, council will vote a final time on a decision to have city staff work with Parkview Homes to come up with a design for the two new apartment buildings.
Then city staff and the developer will be expected to report back to council with that design.
The Black Horse and The Pig’s Ear are attached to either end of the elaborate Morrow Building.
The Morrow Building is at the corner of Brock and George streets; it is a carefully restored landmark from the 19th century.
It’s not going to be torn down; it has a different owner, and it’s protected from demolition under a heritage designation.
The Black Horse was built as an addition to the Morrow Building. The second floor of the addition mimics the Morrow Building exactly.
The Pig’s Ear is likely the oldest drinking establishment in the city. Although it’s had many different owners and names, it has operated as a bar for 150 years.
City councillors had a chance to place heritage designations on the two buildings at a meeting on March 27, but they decided not to do so. Instead, they planned to allow the developer to come up with some new plans for the downtown. Paul Dietrich, owner of Parkview Homes, spoke to The Examiner this week and said he isn’t interested in restoring the buildings. He bought the Pig ’s Ear in January, with a plan to tear it down. He’s buying the Black Horse for the same reason (although the real estate deal hasn’t closed). Dietrich already has demolition permits – they were issued in February by the city. He says he wants to take the downtown in a fresh new direction by investing roughly $20 million in new apartments. He said he’d like to salvage some of the building materials – such as bricks - and create a heritage display in the lobby of the new buildings. Councillors gave preliminary approval to Dietrich’s plan to redevelop, at the meeting on March 27. But that approval needs ratification on Monday, and the public will be allowed to speak before the final debate and vote. Although Dietrich is not expected to speak to council, his lawyer, Jeff Ayotte, will be speaking. Two others have registered to speak, as well: Elwood Jones, the archivist at Trent Valley Archives, and Sean Paul Cowling, a local landlord who does renovations. If you want to speak to council but haven’t registered in advance, you can: it’s possible to simply show up and speak. Or you can check The Examiner’s website for livestreaming, tweets and blogging from the meeting. It all begins at City Hall at 6:30 p.m. NOTE: Historian at Work columnist Elwood Jones looks back at the history of The Morrow Building on Page C1.