St. Catharines Downtown Association

Lifelong city booster Don Shaw, whose controversial Corbloc dream reshaped the downtown, has died after a brief illness.

The 92-year-old, the last family owner of local pharmacy chain Potter and Shaw, was an "icon for the city," said friend George Darte.

"He loved his city and he was a visionary," said the funeral home director, whose father also knew Shaw well. "He was involved in many important projects ... in some cases he was well beyond his time, as many visionaries are."

The pharmacy owner was the driving force behind Corbloc, a nine-storey office tower and retail blockbuster development pitched as a miniature version of Toronto's Eaton Centre to revitalize a sagging downtown. Shaw's ownership group ran out of money and lost control of the massive commercial development a year later.

In hindsight, Shaw later said the "grandiose" building was "prematurely conceived," but more recently the development at 80 King St. has become a mini-financial hub, with RBC Royal Bank moving in two years ago.

"He was a city booster, always very fond of and very proud of St. Catharines," said daughter Marilyn Walker. "He always tried to make it a better place ... Even if everything he tried didn't work out, he was successful for a period of time."

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