THUNDER BAY - A century-old grain elevator on the city’s south side will remain standing, much to the disappointment of nearby property owners.
The Riverside Grain Products structure sits on the banks of the Kaministiquia River and was built more than 100 years ago. Environmental assessments and public information sessions were held in 2017 to prepare the structure for possible demolition.
The property was forfeited to the provincial government in 2018 with possible demolition taking place in 2019, but a spokesperson with Infrastructure Ontario said there are no plans for demolition at this time.
“When the property was forfeited to the province in 2018 (by the city) there was a different process in place,” the spokesperson said.
“The Ford Government amended the Forfeited Properties Act, which meant there was no longer a requirement to demolish properties like that. Instead, it will be left standing, while the province looks at and entertains options for the property.”
This is disappointing news to Volker Kromm, executive director of the Regional Food Distribution Association on Syndicate Avenue, which sits just in front of the aging structure.
“I’m a little disappointed. I was really looking forward to having that site cleaned up,” he said. “It’s an eye sore, yes, but for us it’s also a source for rodents and possible other uses that are not conducive to food.”
The site, which also includes the former McLaurin General Store, one of the first stores in the city, was originally the Ogilvie flour mill before becoming the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool 8 and later sold to Riverside Grain in 1997. All operations ceased in 2000.
Kromm said cleaning up the site would allow for that land to be put to better use to benefit the city of Thunder Bay.
“I am a strong proponent of local regional development, so that would have been an opportunity to do something with the site and bring it back into the local economy and bring some much needed revenue to the city,” he said.
“There were some great plans to revitalize that. Right on the corner is the oldest store in Thunder Bay, it would have been great to bring that back and bring a couple of other local businesses to highlight some of our local food culture here. And we are on the river. What’s a better way to create a tourist attraction.”
The group Friends of Grain Elevators seeks to preserve the history of the sites in the city and the role they played in shaping industry in Canada.
President Robert Paterson said the group was hoping to possibly preserve some historical artifacts from the site.
“The interest for the Friends of Grain Elevators was to hopefully get a hold of some artifacts that we already identified that would be available after the demolition,” he said. “Not having that opportunity now is a bit disappointing. But we don’t make those decisions.”
Friends of Grain Elevators were previously granted permission into the site to take photographs and identify any items of historical interest.
If given the opportunity to secure any artifacts of historical significance, Paterson said the group would welcome that, but it does not have a stance on the actual structure’s future.
“I wouldn’t say we were one way or the other on that,” he said. “It’s not our call. But if the engineers determined if it is unsafe and is moving and something has to be done, but obviously nothing is going to be done.”
For now the structure will remain standing but Kromm said hopefully in the near future it will come down.
“Given the time currently of the pandemic and the economic focus on other things, spending $10 million probably wasn’t very prudent,” he said. “We hope things turn around and we can do that.”
