Lakeshore council requests inspection of building at Belle River Marina

WND063025_BELLERIVER

An inspection of the building at Belle River Marina is going to be conducted as the Municipality of Lakeshore tries to decide what to do with the structure.

The council voted during its June 24 meeting to direct administration to conduct a safety and accessibility inspection of the building that houses office space on the main floor for marina operations and space on the second floor for a restaurant.

The decision was made after the municipality received no responses to a request for proposals to operate a restaurant on the second floor of the building that overlooks Lake St. Clair.

Once the inspection is complete, the administration will report back to the council on the options available.

According to an administration report, the second floor of the building poses challenges for accessibility and compliance with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act.

Frank Jeney, corporate leader of community health and safety services, said the council directed the administration to conduct an inspection as soon as possible.

“We’ve received a number of complaints over the last at least five years that I’ve been in Lakeshore about the lack of accessible features that the current second floor of that building has; it does not have an elevator or lift,” he said.

Jeney said the second flood also has very tight hallways, which is why they will conduct an accessibility inspection.

“We are also going to be doing a safety inspection because the building is aging, parts of it are aging, so we are doing a full report on where it stands and what the path should be forward, what is going to be in that space in the future,” he said.

An aerial view of the pier, Belle River Marina, Lakeview Park West Beach, and Lakeview Park, just along Lake St. Clair in Belle River.

Jeney said they also have another report coming to the council on marina operations along with the safety and accessibility inspection.

“Once we get this report, we’ll have a better understanding of what we have to do,” he said.

“But we are in the area where, to make any significant change to the space, we will have to bring it up to full code, so we’re going to have to keep that in mind as well and bring all of that information to the council to make their best decision.”

The municipality has been going through a process to look at ways to re-envision the property around the Belle River Marina.

The initiative, known as the Lakeshore Spark Project, did not receive any bids that were compliant with the parameters that were laid out as part of the request for expressions of interest.

The town is now waiting for the results of the building inspection before moving forward any further with the Spark initiative.

- Written by Rusty Thomson/AM800 News.