Future Windsor boutique hotel on Wyandotte consumed by fire (2024)

Windsor firefighters battled a structure fire at the corner of Wyandotte Street East and Parent Avenue early Friday.

The fire is at the location of a planned boutique hotel called The West Walkerville, which was under renovation.

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The 115-year-old building was undergoing a conversion to become a 23-room hotel with restaurant.

About 25 firefighters were on the scene. No one was believed to have been inside the building at the time the fire broke out.

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“I saw that some of the walls collapsed,” said developer Graeme Thompson, who was renovating the building. He arrivedon the scene shortly after the fire started.

“It doesn’t look good for the building,” he told the Windsor Star. “We have no clue what happened. It’s just sad to see this beautiful building … basically come down.”

“Nobody’s been hurt and I think that’s one thing we can appreciate.”

The original building, located between the downtown and Old Walkerville, opened in 1909 as the Wyandotte Hotel. “It was a building people recognized and appreciated in Windsor,” said Thompson.

“We don’t know the cause. We don’t know anything quite yet. It’s just really sad to see it go.

“It’s a beautiful building. It’s a beautiful project that we started … I’m really hopeful that we can keep it going.

“It’s just a travesty.”

The blaze broke out shortly after 4 a.m., said Windsor Fire and Rescue Services chief Stephen Laforet. The fire is believed to have originated on the second or third floors.

As the fire was being fought, officials were advising those with breathing problems who live downtown to close their windows and for people to avoid the area.

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