A member of parliament from Windsor is calling for work to be stepped up on an historic Ouellette Ave. building.
Windsor West MP Brian Masse stood outside the fenced-in front entrance of the former HMCS Hunter on the southern edge of the downtown core Friday. The building, which has stood vacant for two years, has been allowed to decay and is surrounded by overgrown grass and weeds, discarded furniture, and even used drug needles -- a potential public safety issue.
Masse has written to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau calling for federal government action to rehabilitate the building. Letters have also been sent to Minister of Natural Resources Jim Carr and Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan. The HMCS Hunter is under the watch of the Ministry of Defense despite it being vacant.
Masse has written up a work order for the property and submitted it. In it, he identifies crumbling brickwork on the façade of the structure, along with serious water damage at the rear of the building. A rear gate that had been open for at least a couple of days was also pointed out, leaving open the possibility of people accessing the property for illicit activity.
"Our community does not want to live through another Paul Martin Building [like] boondoggle," wrote Masse in the notes of the work order. "We call upon the government to clean up and maintain the property, fix what needs to be repaired then directly and urgently engage the community with respect to future use possibilities."
In his letter to the prime minister, Masse also listed the Paul Martin Building and the Ojibway Shores land area as properties in his riding that need attention. The Paul Martin Building's exterior has been restored but Masse says the building's interior still needs significant work. Previous reports indicate that the building would soon be turned over to the University of Windsor for a new law school, though funding still has not been finalized. Ojibway Shores is considered to be environmentally significant and the community has rejected plans for development.
The HMCS Hunter was the home of the Windsor Naval Reserve Division since the Second World War. The detachment that used the building for training and administration has since moved to a new building on the Windsor riverfront.
Masse says the prime minister has yet to respond to his correspondence concerning the properties.
Drug needles are seen on the ground near the former HMCS Hunter building in Windsor on July 14, 2017 (Photo by Mark Brown/Blackburn News)