Welland House fire: What we know so far
Investigation continues; hopes remain some artifacts could be saved
Welland House was a downtown St. Catharines landmark since 1856, and was destroyed by fire on Monday. Firefighters were called to the building at 26-30 Ontario St. at 5:23 a.m. and found a significant fire already underway on the third floor.
The building has been unoccupied since 2018 when a student residence was closed.
Why was Welland House significant?
Welland House was the sole survivor of three grand spa hotels in the city that were internationally known for offering “healing waters” in the 19th century.
The mineral water came from underground springs tapped for recreational and curative purposes. Visitors included wealthy and prominent citizens from Canada, the United States and Britain, including prime ministers.
The building was significant to the history of the Black community in Niagara, which was a destination for freedom seekers escaping slavery in the U.S. Black tradesmen helped build the structure and the hotel employed Black residents.
It was also the location of the first Girl Guides of Canada meeting and first commercial radio broadcast by CKTB.
Is there anything historical left to be saved?
St. Catharines Heritage Advisory Committee chair Brian Narhi said there may be some bricks or cut stonework among the rubble that could be salvaged. He said some of that could be re-purposed as a facing on the ground floor of whatever gets built on the site, or for a commemorative cairn.
He said the best chance of finding anything else historic would be in the basement, where the bathing pool was located.
“If anything is going to be saved, it should be that pool because that’s why the Welland House was built, for the mineral waters and for the spa. If the pool is still there, let’s try and make an effort to conserve that pool as a physical reminder of that great spa era that we had in the city,” he said.
“If all that gets demolished and dug up and carted off to landfill, then the last remaining vestiges of that 1850s era of the mineral waters, it’s gone.”
How long will the cleanup of the giant debris pile take?
There’s no precise timeline, but it’s expected to happen quickly.
The city issued an emergency order to the building’s owners and interested parties Monday.
Brian Thiessen, the city’s acting chief building official, said the order is issued when there is a need for action to happen quickly to alleviate safety concerns.
The owners had to get a structural engineer to demolish what was left of the building in case of collapse, and work with fire investigators to ensure they could do their probe. They were also required to fence off the site.
The majority of the building has been taken pretty close to the ground. The emergency order also requires debris to be removed from the site.
The demolition contractor was off Friday but will be back Monday. Thiessen said the owners have security and people monitoring the site and the city is also keeping tabs on it.
Who owns the Welland House?
Welland House is owned by numbered company 2272872 Ontario Inc., based in Richmond Hill. The city has posted the names of those connected with the company on a fence at the site.
What was the cause of the fire?
The cause hasn’t been determined yet. A joint investigation headed by the Office of the Ontario Fire Marshal and investigators from St. Catharines Fire Services and Niagara Regional Police is underway.
The duration could be anywhere from a few days to months.
“It’s not just the physical evidence in an investigation; they’ll look at everything in full scope,” Fire Chief Jeff Mccormick said.
“They will review witness statements provided by the first responding crews. Then they will work on forming a hypothesis as to the area of origin and then the potential causes. From there, they’ll write a conclusive report that will come from the Office of the Fire Marshal that will indicate the cause.”
Video by witnesses showed walls collapsing toward King Street. Was the street and sidewalk damaged by flaming debris?
St. Catharines director of municipal works Darrell Smith said damage to King Street is believed to be mostly cosmetic, but they won’t know for sure until it’s cleaned up.
King Street remained closed Friday as crews tried to remove thick mud created by the ash, debris and water.
The sidewalks on Ontario and William Streets have some damage with a few small cracks, but nothing that’s a safety hazard, Smith said. They haven’t been able to get close enough to examine the sidewalks on King Street yet.
City crews will also inspect the sewers, but Smith said they don’t anticipate significant impact because municipal crews responded to the fire to catch as much run off as they could.
Why wasn’t the Welland House given a historical designation before Monday’s fire?
The property at 26-30 Ontario St. was on the St. Catharines register of non-designated cultural heritage properties, created in 2009. Being on the register meant if an owner ever applied to demolish the building, they’d have to wait 60 days for a heritage review to be undertaken first. The demolition application would be denied or approved based on the results.
In the fall 2019, the St. Catharines Heritage Advisory Committee became concerned about the state of Welland House when they saw the student residence had closed and it was boarded up. Members prepared a cultural heritage evaluation report dated Jan. 29, 2020, that found the property worthy of full protection under the Ontario Heritage Act.
Committee chair Brian Narhi said there wasn’t an urgency to designate it before because it had been in active use over the years as a hotel, nightclub and student residence. Once it was boarded up, they were concerned about “demolition by neglect” or that an owner could seek a demolition permit and they would only have 60 days to respond.
Their recommendation to designate the property came to city council Feb. 24, 2020, and council agreed, directing staff to issue a notice of intention to designate and to draft a bylaw. The owner appealed to the Conservation Review Board.
The city, owner, and owner’s heritage consultant had extensive discussions through the Conservation Review Board mediation process. The owner agreed to withdraw their objection to the designation, subject to it being narrowed down to the core heritage structure of the building. The original proposal included later additions to the building.
A revised bylaw came before council Monday, hours after the building was destroyed by fire. Council adopted the bylaw anyway.