A familiar face in the Windsor business community is now taking his services to a different association.
Larry Horwitz, who for years was the face of the Downtown Windsor Business Improvement Association (DWBIA), is now the vice-chairman of the Wyandotte Town Centre Business Improvement Association. Horwitz was elected vice-chair during the BIA's board meeting earlier this week.
Horwitz, who was a candidate for Windsor mayor in 2014, left the DWBIA following elections for the 2019-2022 term, though he's still listed with the DWBIA as a past chairman. This time, he will be working to strengthen the multi-ethnic neighbourhood that stretches along Wyandotte Street East between the downtown core and Walkerville. He told BlackburnNewsWindsor.com that one of his priorities is to see on Wyandotte Street some of the street improvements that have taken place in both those areas.
"Streetscapes passed us by," said Horwitz. "Downtown's got tremendous streetscapes and Walkerville got a multi-million dollar project. If you drive down that stretch, I just don't understand and we don't understand why it's been pushed to the side."
With historic Windsor Arena now being offered for sale, Horwitz said they have already heard from potential developers who would like to purchase the property and transform it.
"We've already had discussions with proponents with the idea of turning that into a major facility with sports and entertainment, and possibly commercial-residential," said Horwitz.
The arena, one of the few surviving buildings that once housed an NHL team -the original Detroit Cougars (now Red Wings)- has been used for storage, according to Mayor Drew Dilkens. Its most recent tenants, the University of Windsor men's and women's hockey teams, moved out a few years ago.
Horwitz is already encouraged by the continued development going on in the neighbourhood, with several new businesses catering to its ethnic diversity.
Like several other local BIAs, the Wyandotte BIA is awaiting City Council approval of its 2019 budget, which is on the agenda at Monday night's council meeting. A $1,000 contribution by the BIA to the group opposed to the site of a new mega-hospital has been pledged. Horwitz said due to comments made by the mayor last week about potential violations of the Ontario Municipal Act, the BIA has not moved forward with a financial contribution.