Malic’s part of city history on Wyandotte

Deli building pegged for heritage status

Windsor landmark Malic’s Delicatessen is one of more than a dozen Wyandotte Street buildings a step closer to being added to the heritage register.

The two-storey yellow brick building, built around 1915, is part of a historical streetscape the city wants to preserve, said John Calhoun, heritage planner for the city. Most were built between 1900 and 1930.

The building that has housed Malic’s Delicatessen since about 1960 was built around 1915. Dominion Stores used to be inside, followed by Maurice’s Kosher Deli as of 1929.

“The yellow brick is somewhat unusual for Windsor,” Calhoun said, adding the building is a good example of the old two-storey brick buildings whose facades help define the stretch of Wyandotte east of Ouellette Avenue.

Malic’s second floor once housed the Sons of England hall, also used by a Seventh-Day Adventist church.

Terry Crozier, who has worked at Malic’s for seven years, said nearly each day someone passes by with a memory of their grandfather or great-grandfather coming to the deli.

“It’s one of the oldest continuously running restaurants in the city of Windsor,” he said. “Malic’s has been here so long. The building has been here so long.

“The two go hand in hand with each other.”

One customer who now lives out west told him she still stops by each time she visits.

He said although the face of the neighbourhood has changed over the years, the buildings have stayed the same.

“Though the faces, the languages, the attire may be different, the foundation of the area is in fact the physical properties. They unify the area,” he said.

The buildings to be added to the register include the 1927 Meconi Block, at 439-443 Wyandotte, where the old Meconi Grocery once stood.

Approval was granted by the planning, heritage and economic development committee Monday night and will come before full council for approval at a future date.

The former Casa Loma Restaurant and Tivoli Pool Room building, at 1505-1533 Wyandotte Street East, is also now part of the list.

The centre section of that building went up in 1914.

A two- storey east section was added in 1936, and a house was added on to the west in about 1963. Lorelei’s Bistro, in the F. Nevin Building, was built around 1922.

Stone features are part of its heritage draw, including a nameplate, a wide band above the second storey windows, and emblems with urns near the corners.

“IT’S ONE OF THE OLDEST CONTINUOUSLY RUNNING RESTAURANTS IN THE CITY OF WINDSOR.” TERRY CROZIER