MOUNT FOREST – The old tea room building in downtown Mount Forest is no more after being demolished in April.
The derelict building at 178 Main Street was the source of complaints from Mount Forest Business Improvement Area (BIA) chair Andrew Coburn last fall, but little seemed to change until excavators were observed tearing the building down this spring.
Longtime resident and Hybrid Hair and Detox Spa owner Erin Kiers could see the building from her business and started a Change.org petition in March calling for attention to be given to what Kiers says are neglected downtown buildings.
“We just care about what’s going on in our hometown … the balls are being dropped and it’s concerning,” she told the Community News.
Kiers said she brought up concerns about the tea room but felt brushed off.
As the Community News previously reported, property records show Caledon-based A&M Investments owns the building. Owner Dan Propero told the newspaper his company had plans to demolish the building, but was waiting on engineers and permitting.
“Everything will get done when it gets done, you can’t push people,” he said previously, adding “people have to be patient.”
It’s unclear what finally led to the building being demolished.
The Community News recently reached Propero by phone, but he said he didn’t have time to talk.
Propero did not respond to several subsequent follow-up messages requesting comment for this article.
Wellington North CAO Brooke Lambert did not directly answer specific questions from the newspaper seeking to understand what happened between last year and when the building was leveled.
The newspaper also reached out to BIA chair Coburn, but did not receive a response.
Without anything or anyone to indicate otherwise, Kiers believes her petition, which has since garnered 173 signatures, was “extremely effective.
“People coming together this way made it happen,” she said.
“I’m extremely proud of the local support.”
Mayor Andy Lennox said the issue with the old tea room building had been “brewing” for several years.
The township has been working in the background to get the demolition moving, the mayor said, but the old tea room shared an integrated staircase and foundation with next-door neighbour Forest Physiotherapy.
“It wasn’t just a simply remove and replace situation,” Lennox said, adding, “there’s really not a lot we can do to force the issue.”
With the former building now reduced to rubble, the mayor said he’s looking forward to the “wonderful addition” to come on the property.
According to the township A&M Investments has a building permit and is moving forward with the development of a three-storey building with a commercial use on the main floor and 16 single bedroom apartment units, split between a second and third floor.
A site plan agreement states the building will cover the width of the property, with a parking lot to be located to the rear and access from King Street.
As for Kiers, she’s shifting her focus to the former Mr. Softee location at the intersection of Main Street and Highway 89.
She said the township should be pressuring the owners to maintain or develop the property.
“It’s disgusting, it’s terrible-looking, it makes us look like a slummy town,” Kiers remarked.
