It's time to revitalize Wyandotte, says BIA after El Mayor fire

El Mayor, a Lebanese restaurant on Wyandotte Street East, no longer has a roof after a fire Thursday.

A fire also affected businesses in the area back in 2016, and thosebuildings are still boarded up and fenced off.

The Wyandotte Town Centre Business Improvement Association (BIA) is concerned the city isn't doing enough to help the community.

"Wyandotte's kind of an afterthought," said Wade Griffith, chair of the BIA. He said business owners are telling him they feel city hall has neglected the area in favour of Walkerville and downtown.

Griffith points to a multimillion-dollar streetscaping project that was approved back in 2017, for colourful banners to be woven above street level.

The BIA thought that was a done deal, but in March 2018the project was turned down at city council.

Not only that, Griffith thinks a number of issues,such as homelessness and drug use, are getting worse within the neighbourhood. He saidhe's frustrated because he doesn't feellike much help is coming from council.

"I see city hall kind of ignoring it, and it's time for them to start focusing on what's going on in the core of the city, not necessarily Christmas tree lights all the time," he said.

Wyandotte Town Centre BIA hopes for revitalization of the area

6 years ago

Duration 2:25

Wade Griffith explains what the latest fire on Wyandotte Street East means for the community.

If there's a resourcingissue, Griffith said the city needs to look at how to reallocate funds so "the blight" can be removed from the area quickly.

"We've got most of the newcomers in Windsor opening businesses in this area, so this is a perfect time to start revitalizing and re-beautifying this area."