Windsor West candidates mull options for community hub at old Forster high school
Things are heating up in Windsor West as a few of the candidates are trading barbs over what to do with the boarded up homes around the Ambassador Bridge and the former Forster High School.
With the backdrop of a shuttered school owned by the Ambassador Bridge Company and dozens of boarded up homes, Windsor West Liberal candidate Sandra Pupatello said it’s time someone paid attention.
“I hope after this election, this can be the site of rejuvenation,” she said. “I’m standing here to today tell you, I don’t care whose fault it is. We need to fix this.”
Pupatello wants to have a discussion with community members to once again make Forster a community hub. She says included in those conversations will be centred around using it affordable housing, a space for community agencies and groups and even small businesses.
Pupatello said she will need to get elected for that to happen.
“We have 20 years of the same MP and 20 years of this issue just festering for the community,” she said. “I think it’s time for a change.”
New Democrat incumbent candidate Brian Masse says the Federal Liberals created the blight by signing an order in council for the Bridge Company, paving the way for a new span, but also allowing the owner of the Ambassador Bridge to hold onto boarded up properties.
He also told CTV Windsor Forster closed because of provincial Liberal policies on school funding — policies that were in place when Pupatello was a cabinet minister.
“When I was on city council I helped save Forster the first time and later on it was her government that actually put in the policies that closed it. So if you want to go back in time, I’ve been there front and centre all that time,” said Masse.
The NDP candidate said his political opponent needs to do her homework, because an engineering feasibility study will soon be released, detailing necessary repairs for Science City and a dozen tenants to move into the old school.
According to Science City representative Bill Baylis, the Bridge Company is willing to donate the building.
“There has been some good progress and some goodwill on behalf of the Ambassador Bridge and Science City to actually take Forster School and create it into a community hub.”
The Conservative Candidate for Windsor West is Anthony Orlando.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Grandparent scam: London, Ont., senior beats fraudsters not once, but twice
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
Deaths of 4 people on Sask. farm confirmed as murder-suicide
The deaths of four people on a farm near the Saskatchewan village of Neudorf have been confirmed a murder-suicide.
George Washington family secrets revealed by DNA from unmarked 19th century graves
Genetic analysis has shed light on a long-standing mystery surrounding the fates of U.S. President George Washington's younger brother Samuel and his kin.
Why some Christians are angry about Trump's 'God Bless the USA' Bible
Former U.S. President Donald Trump is officially selling a copy of the Bible themed to Lee Greenwood’s famous song, 'God Bless the USA.' But the concept of a Bible covered in the American flag has raised concern among religious circles.
Full parole granted to man convicted in notorious 'McDonald's murders' in Cape Breton
The Parole Board of Canada has granted full parole to one of three men convicted in the brutal murders of three McDonald's restaurant workers in Cape Breton more than 30 years ago.
Rainfall warnings of up to 80 mm among weather alerts in effect for 6 provinces
Rainfall warnings of up to 90 millimetres and other alerts have been issued for six Canadian provinces, according to the latest forecasts.
Sunshine list: These were the Ontario public sector's highest earners in 2023
Ontario released its annual sunshine list Thursday afternoon, noting that the largest year-over-year increases were in hospitals, municipalities, and post-secondary sectors.
Bus plunges off a bridge in South Africa, killing 45 people. An 8-year-old child is only survivor
A bus carrying worshippers headed to an Easter festival plunged off a bridge on a mountain pass and burst into flames in South Africa on Thursday, killing at least 45 people, authorities said.
Calgary bridges remain closed due to ongoing police incident
Calgary police have shut down a number of bridges into and out of the downtown core as officers deal with a distraught individual.