St. Catharines Downtown Association

Anyone looking for a beer fridge?

Has the City of St. Catharines got a deal for you!

It's now the proud owner of the Knight's Inn on St. Paul Street and all the furnishings and paraphernalia that go with it.

Hmm, sounds kind of scary.

OK, so I really don't know if the market will soon be flooded with municipally owned fridges, mattresses, TVs and goodness knows what.

Point is, the city has possession, however

temporarily, of a downtown motel building.

I say temporarily because it hopes to demolish the building as soon as possible, probably early in the new year.

And here you were hoping to get a city-subsidized, luxurious-package- for-two stay in April.

The $1.69-million purchase, which was finalized earlier this week, is part of the land assembly for the new performing arts thingy being developed in partnership with Brock University.

The deal was supposed to close Dec. 1, but was delayed a couple of weeks so paperwork on the related sale of the Leonard Hotel could be completed.

The Leonard situation was resolved earlier this fall when local real estate investor Nick Atalick stepped forward with a $1.8-million offer for the building.

With all the loose ends finally tied up, that deal was also sealed this week, said Atalick, who reconfirmed plans to spend $4 million renovating the tired-looking, 80-year-old structure.

He said the Leonard will continue to operate as a hotel during renovations, which will start on the first and second floors.

About 40 residents are living on the upper three floors and will be allowed to remain there, said Atalick. Those rooms will be renovated when vacated.

You might also want to take a picture of the Leonard sign within the next few months because the name of the hotel will be changing.

A new one will likely be announced some time next spring when some rooms, the lobby and a portion of the facade have been renovated.

Existing commercial tenants on the ground floor will remain and the Coffee Pot shop is expected to re-open early in the new year.

Also, a new operator has been found for the detached building at the rear of the Leonard property, which over the past couple of decades had been home to various nightclubs. Atalick said it will open in the spring as part jazz club, part Starbucks-like cafe.

Let's get back to the combined performing arts centre/Brock school of fine and performing arts.

The next big step in the development process was supposed to be the hiring of a project manager by the joint Brock/city team. The plan was for city council to approve the selection in December, followed a short time later by approval from Brock's capital projects committee.

A preferred candidate has, in fact, been selected from a short list of eight firms, but ratification has been put off because, well, Brock doesn't actually have the money, yet, to do its part of the $101-million project.

Relax, all you cultured types out there. Your arts palace is still coming. I think.

Brock has identified the arts school as its top capital priority and has sought the appropriate financial share -- $26.1 million -- from the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities.

Given the certainty with which Brock officials have chatted up the school relocation to the Canada Hair Cloth site, one presumes they have received all the right signals from the province. They're still waiting, though, for the phone call, fax or e-mail that gives them the final good word.

Here's a clue that something's in the works.

The city is now anticipating that council will be asked to approve the project manager selection at its first meeting in February.

On that basis, expect a Brock dog-and-pony show celebrating acquired provincial cash within the next few weeks.

Meantime, keep your eyes and ears open for that fridge sale.

Please see story posted by Doug Herod in The St. Catharines Standard at:

http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2229583