The City of Windsor building department issued emergency demolition and safety orders late last month against dilapidated, long-vacant properties owned by the company operating the Ambassador Bridge in the west end.
City building officials identified structurally unsound conditions, including collapsed roofs, on residential properties held for decades by the Canadian Transit Company (CTC) for bridge expansion plans.
The current emergency enforcement targets 16 specific properties on Bloomfield Road, Edison Street, Felix Avenue, Indian Road, and Mill Street, which must meet deadlines at the end of July.
City records indicate a total of 17 properties face emergency orders as part of a broader ongoing dispute over 37 remaining CTC-owned sites in Sandwich.
CTC's Position and Plaza Expansion Plans
CTC officials stated they want to demolish all remaining vacant homes to accommodate a secondary inspection plaza expansion extending to Felix Avenue and toward Mill Street.
"That is the only way to effectively promote safety and realize the benefits of substantial investment in the community," said Randy Spader, Vice President of Operations for the Canadian Transit Company.
Spader did not answer subsequent inquiries regarding CTC properties outside the plaza footprint, including the old J. L.
Forster high school where a February 12, 2025, demolition request is still pending review.
"[The] CTC has long fought to demolish the remaining vacant, boarded-up houses in Sandwich and to subsequently invest in the enhancement of the Ambassador Bridge plaza," wrote Spader.
The company stated that the current orders do not encompass all of its vacant housing inventory within the neighborhood.
"CTC wishes to demolish all vacant houses and to pursue our plaza enhancement project," he wrote.
Community and Official Reactions
Local residents expressed relief over the removal of the boarded-up structures that damaged neighborhood perception.
"About time!" said Bill Voakes, a west end resident.
Voakes noted that the long-abandoned buildings created an uninviting environment for local community members.
"I'd rather just put it [like this]: Let's just keep going, guys, just keep these things coming down and we can clean this up," he said.
Ward 2 Councillor Frazier Fathers stated that the buildings deteriorated past the point of restoration because the company declined to submit traditional redevelopment plans.
"You can’t actually see it from the road, but, you put a drone up in the air you can actually see the roof that sort of collapsed on top of the house," said Fathers.
Fathers explained that the city previously restricted demolitions without an approved replacement plan under the Sandwich Demolition Control Bylaw.
"At any point in time, the CTC could have come to us, could have come to the city with a plan, hey, we want to tear down these two homes and build an apartment building or build new family homes.
They could have done those things and those homes, demolition orders could have been processed, they chose not to," he said.
Fathers emphasized that the properties remained unoccupied for over 25 years due to corporate decisions.
"So those homes have been sitting there, in some cases, for 25 plus years uninhabited," he said.
The city councillor indicated a preference for seeing the cleared land utilized for new residential development projects.
"I would like to see these properties reactivated," he said.
Fathers noted that the city remains open to reviewing any future planning permits submitted by the bridge company or private developers.
"The CTC at any point in time can put them for sale or put in a planning permit to put something on those properties.
And the city will consider that planning permit.
And if they sell it to, say, a private developer who wants to build housing, that would be amazing," he said.
Fathers also noted that housing is the only permitted land use for cleared properties sitting outside the bridge plaza footprint.
"If they showed up tomorrow, they could get a building permit to build a house here. I would not oppose new housing coming into west Windsor.
That's not a bad thing," said Fathers.
Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens noted in March 2025 that the city was attempting to resolve issues with the bridge ownership.
"We've got a great relationship with the Ambassador Bridge, with Mr. Moroun, trying to get to the other side of this," said Dilkens.
Dilkens later remarked that geopolitical events, including U. S.
ownership demands regarding the $6.4 billion Gordie Howe International Bridge project, complicated relations.
"In some ways it does feel like one step forward and two steps back," said Dilkens.
The City of Windsor subsequently ended efforts to find a mutual resolution regarding the boarded-up homes outside of standard enforcement actions.
