Reopen sidewalk near Magee House, businesses urge

People in Hintonburg are still calling for the sidewalk around the partially collapsed Magee House to be reopened.

Ever since the wall of the 19th-centurystone house crumbled last July, a chain-link fence has blocked access to the sidewalk and on-street parking spots in front of the property.

An update on Magee House, located at 1119 Wellington St.W., is expected this Tuesday at the city's built heritage subcommittee.

• Magee Housedeadlock galls neighbouring businesses
• Magee Houseto stay standing for now

"Our key concern all along has been to reopen the sidewalk as soon as possible," saidDennis VanStaalduinen, executive director of the WellingtonWest Business Improvement Area (BIA).

Of course at [more than seven]months in, that's getting more and more urgent all the time, particularly as we approach spring,"

Van Staalduinen said the neighbourhood is a pedestrian-oriented area, and the sidewalk closure is a safety issueespecially for people with mobility challenges, walkers, or strollers.

"For the past nine months, we've just been watching people walk out into traffic because the sidewalk is closed, and because the blockage is not at an intersection people just walk up to the gate, and then they end up walking out into traffic," said Van Staalduinen.

"We see near-misses every single day."

Since December, VanStaalduinen said, he's been in weekly contact with City of Ottawa staff concerningthe status of the building and plans for future.

VanStaalduinensaid that while the city told him they havea plan, and work on the building will start in the near future, that's not enough.

The community wants firm dates, he said,on when work will start and when the sidewalk could reopen.

He said it's been a "terrible year," with the lack of pedestrian traffic making it"challenging" for businesses on that block.

Businesses frustrated

Susie Pearson, owner of The Extraordinary Baby Shoppe, agrees.

She saidthe closure of the sidewalk has directed pedestrian traffic across the street, which has led to her worst January and February ever.

It was such a sudden, steep drop [in customers].SusiePearson, The Extraordinary Baby Shoppe

"It was a tough winter, but the people that came into the store commented on how hard it was to get to us. And it was such a sudden, steep drop," Pearson said.

She's also concerned about safety she sayspeople have been forced to walkon the road because of the closure.

Pearson said she wants to see the building torn down.

Owner plans to restore building

But Magee Houseowner Ovidio Sbrissa says he still plans to restore the building.

Because of the age, construction, and heritage significance of the building, he said care needs to be taken in the structure's restoration.

Sbrissasaid work will have to wait until the weather warms up, but clean-up work should be done earlier.

"In terms of uniqueness and the originality of the construction of the walls, it's a very, very important historical building and it should be taken care of in that manner," Sbrissa said.

Sbrissa also wants the sidewalk to reopen as soon as possible, and once the cleanup gets underway, he'd like to review the location of the fencewith the city.

"I always considered it my castle," he said. "Just because you got a hole in the wall, you don't destroy the building."