Businessman decries loss of aged block oldest downtown building doomed?

Date: December 18, 2006
By: Aldo Santin

INTERNET pharmacy pioneer Daren Jorgenson says a developer should not be allowed to demolish the downtown's oldest building for a parking lot for a revamped St. Charles Hotel.

Jorgenson said the city has a responsibility to protect the integrity of the historic Exchange District, adding that knocking down buildings undermines the area.

"You shouldn't rip down a structure in the Exchange District for 10 parking spots," Jorgenson said.

"If the owner doesn't want to maintain it or develop it, then the owner should have the responsibility to sell it to someone who does."

Lawyer Ken Zaifman and his partners want to convert the St. Charles Hotel into a boutique hotel.

Zaifman said his redevelopment proposals call for reorienting the front of the St. Charles from Notre Dame Avenue to Albert Street . He insists he needs to clear the property at 38-44 1/2 Albert Street to accommodate the reorientation, which would include a new entrance, outdoor patio and some additional parking spaces.

But Jorgenson said Zaifman shouldn't be allowed to demolish the Albert Street property.

A civic committee last month turned down a proposal from the historical buildings committee to give the Albert Street property an historic designation, which would have prevented it from being demolished.

Jorgenson made his fortune as one of the country's first Internet pharmacists, with the firm Canadameds.com. The success of that company allowed him to expand his Internet pharmacy business into Alberta .

Expanded

Then he expanded into other fields: He bought several north Main Street properties and opened a series of walk-in clinics.

He bought the Vault Hair Salon, located on Albert Street , three years ago, then bought the building where the salon is located last year.

Jorgenson said he's tried for three years to buy the Albert Street property Zaifman wants to demolish but that the owners, a group of partners headed up by Globe Agencies president Richard Morantz, has refused to discuss it.

"Building owners in the Exchange District have a responsibility to maintain the integrity of the area's heritage designation," Jorgenson said. "They (Morantz and his partners) don't want to develop the building or maintain it."

Morantz said the ownership group believes that its best interests are advanced by holding onto the property.

Morantz wouldn't comment on Jorgenson's suggestion that he and his partners have a responsibility to either develop the Albert Street property or sell it to someone who will.

The Albert Street property, known as the Building Block, is in desperate need of repair. It consists of three buildings: a two-storey brick house that was built in 1877 and two one-storey additions in 1924 that surround the original house. The block is home to a Chinese restaurant and a tailor shop.

Jorgenson said he'd preserve and restore the portion of the block that contains the Chinese restaurant and strip away the other one-storey addition to reveal the original 1877 brick house, which he would convert into a tourist information office. Zaifman said he doesn't believe it's possible to restore the 1877 house, adding it's been incorporated into the later additions. Zaifman said he thinks the only remaining portion of the house is the roof and peak of the structure.

Lisa Holowchuk, executive director of the Exchange District Business Improvement Zone (BIZ) said her agency doesn't want to see the Albert Street property demolished for a surface parking lot. She said she hopes Zaifman pursues the St. Charles renovation without needing to demolish the Albert Street property.