Residents fear pieces of Wheatley, Ont.'s history will be lost as next phase of demolitions begins
CBC
The demolition process for another round of buildings following the 2021 downtown explosion in Wheatley, Ont., will begin next week, and locals say they have mixed feelings about seeing some pieces of local history go.
"Most of the buildings still have their contents inside the buildings," said Barry Broadbent, owner of the former Car Barn restaurant.
"Mine especially, everything … has been there since the explosion .... It is in a pretty, pretty bad state of affairs, that's for sure."
The restaurant has been closed since the Aug. 26, 2021, blast. Now, the building is one of nine slated for demolition.
While Broadbent has owned it for 37 years, the restaurant was around for 20 or more years before that.
Terry Lobzun, a local historian and lifelong Wheatley resident, said the Car Barn used to be used by rum runners.
Another local activist said the building was a billiard hall, garage and bowling alley at different points in its history.
"It's an old institution ... These buildings all have a history," said Rick Taves.
Broadbent said the demolition will be emotional for many businesses.
"It's going to be a tough day obviously for everybody that's involved with their businesses — you know, it's been really hard on the town of Wheatley and the folks that live in Wheatley," he said.
"It's definitely leaving a void in the town and we're hoping that … with the beginning of the demolition, there will be some prospects for the future as far as rebuilding and [getting] the town back on its feet."
Broadbent said salvage companies are currently looking at any pieces that can be saved and then he'll settle up with his insurance company. In the meantime, he's running his catering business.
But he said he doesn't knowwhere his business is going.
"Plans for rebuilding, we don't know. I won't know until they decide what they're going to do with that evacuation zone ... So I don't have any real future plans for the restaurant at the moment."
Recent cyberattacks in Newfoundland and Labrador should have been a wake up call for the federal government about the reality of an increasingly hostile world, says one cybersecurity expert.
A recent CBC News analysis found that Nova Scotia is rapidly losing some of its most affordable apartments, but housing experts say there are ways to prevent that.
Premier Susan Holt is defending her decision to not use electricity exports to Maine as leverage against U.S. tariffs, arguing the move might cause long-term pain for New Brunswickers.
Montreal's St. Patrick's Day parade first started on Saint-Paul Street in 1824, and a couple centuries later, this annual tradition is still going strong.
A congregation in Carman, Man., is coming to grips with the loss of their Anglican Lutheran church, a fixture in the community that was ravaged by a fire on Thursday.
Kayla DeMong fought tears as she described the dire conditions on the front lines, pleading for more help from the province as staff at the harm reduction site she leads try to keep up with the recent spike in overdoses.
A B.C. woman who has been detained by U.S. immigration officials for 11 days, after trying to enter the country, will be released on Friday, according to her father.
Toronto is doubling the number of automated speed cameras on city streets.
Health Minister Adriana LaGrange is alleging the former CEO of Alberta Health Services was unwilling and unable to implement the government's plan to break up the health authority, became "infatuated" with her internal investigation into private surgical contracts and made "incendiary and inaccurate allegations about political intrigue and impropriety" before she was fired in January.
Hudson's Bay Company filed for creditor protection last week, saying it's struggling to pay landlords, vendors and employees — and it's a process that could lead to the sale or closure of Canada's oldest company.
Still sleepy from this week's time change?
RCMP say a man died while in police custody on Wednesday in downtown Yellowknife, and Alberta RCMP are investigating the incident.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford and federal officials left an hours-long meeting with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick saying they feel more positive about the Canada-U.S. trading relationship after weeks of bad blood and heated rhetoric.