St. Catharines Council set to okay removal of Welland House Hotel debris
Published November 29, 2021 at 1:16 pm
After a lengthy back-and-forth with the property owner, it looks like St. Catharines City Council will okay the demolition permit for the former Welland House Hotel on Ontario Street.
The owner, a numbered company in the Vaughan area, was initially resistant in allowing the heritage designation to stop them, asking that the historic tag be removed.
When it became clear the city was not going to budge on the matter, they relented and filled out the necessary paperwork.
Ironically, the City Council passed the heritage designation on the same day that the five-storey building burned to the ground – July 12, 2021.
A report before Council this evening (November 29) is stating, “Staff are recommending a demolition permit be issued for the remains of the existing fire-damaged, designated heritage building at 26-30 Ontario Street to allow for the removal of debris from the property and appropriate documentation, salvage and storage of materials for incorporation within a future development and/or interpretation strategy.”
Since the fire, the debris, 12 feet high at its apex, has been fenced off on the building’s lot.
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However, shifting through the rubble to hold on to historically significant pieces may be trick, the report suggested. “The quality and quantity of significant heritage materials within the debris pile is currently unknown. It was determined that it would be a challenge to outline a strategy for re-use as part of a Heritage Impact Assessment without an understanding of the surviving materials on site. ”
The Ontario Fire Marshall’s office determined that the July fire started on the third floor but was unable to find the cause and eventually dropped the case.
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