West end residents hopeful demolition of vacant homes leads to renewal

A resident of Edison Street for more than 60 years, Louis Driessen is happy to know the vacant homes across the street will soon be demolished. (Robert Lothian/CTV News Windsor)

Once a bustling part of the city’s landscape, Louis Driessen feels his neighbourhood in the west end has changed over the years, but not for the better.

For more than six decades, Driessen has called Edison Street home.

“60 years ago, when I was around here, and everybody knew everybody, and this was one of the nicest areas in the city, and now look at it,” Driessen said.

Sitting on his front porch, Driessen can still recall the names of former neighbours and their hobbies.

However, he felt a seismic shift in the neighbourhood dynamics about 20 years ago, when some properties were purchased by the company which oversees the Ambassador Bridge.

“When the bridge company bought those houses and people started moving out, that’s when things started changing,” he recalled.

Before long, the windows were covered with wood, the roofs began to rot, and for years, he hoped for relief from the constant eyesores across the street.

“Everybody moved out from that side of the street, and the houses were boarded up,” he said.

Earlier this week, Driessen was among the west end residents to learn there will be some changes coming.

Over the past two weeks, emergency demolition and safety orders have been issued for 16 properties, including those along Edison.

“Finally, maybe something is going to happen here that they’re going to build,” Driessen said of his reaction to the news.

The demolition process is expected to take place over the coming months.

Though he’s not holding his breath, Driessen is hopeful to see the land put to use.

“Some sort of buildings built for the poor that need housing,” he responded when asked about what should be built on the land.

Officially owned by the Canadian Transit Company, the properties have been a source of tension for years.

Former Windsor West MP Brian Masse told CTV News that, while he understands demolition is necessary for safety, it’s not a win for the city.

“There’s a lack of respect for the neighbourhood and for the image of the City of Windsor. Because this is one of the busiest international border crossings in the world, and yet we have this blight that’s here,” Masse said, standing below the Ambassador Bridge.

The purchase of homes in the area was “speculative” for the bridge’s previously planned expansion, Masse explained.

Over the years, there’s been proposals for twinning the bridge, creating a new access road to an expanded crossing, and an expanded plaza.

So far, each plan has been cancelled, rejected or delayed.

Yet, the properties in the surrounding neighbourhoods remain untouched, and there’s been no indication that they will be put on the market.

At times, the CTC has lobbied for the City of Windsor to give approval for the homes to be demolished.

“What they’ve done is basically they’ve allowed them to erode, and I think that they represent really what the Canada Transit Company really is, and that’s really not a partner for anyone in particular, aside from themselves,” Masse said.

Because the houses will be demolished, Massed added that the city has lost what was once valuable housing stock.

Though he’s not certain it will come anytime soon, eventually, Masse feels there will be change.

“What we’re involved in right here is a social injustice that’s been going on for decades in our community, and perhaps it might go on for decades further, but there will be a better day one way or the other,” he added.