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 phrenzee
     
Location: Canada
Gender: Male
 |  | Ailsa Craig c. 1860 building burns (video)
< on 2/20/2010 12:48 PM >
|  | | | VIDEO
Ailsa Craig mourns lost landmark
FIRE: Fast-moving blaze consumes the Pinewood Restaurant, a cherished local eatery that opened in 1860 as the Queen's Hotel
By JOE BELANGER, THE LONDON FREE PRESS
Last Updated: February 19, 2010
AILSA CRAIG -- It was open for business before the first shots were fired in the U.S. Civil War.
It was from the porch of the Queen's Hotel that Ailsa Craig residents would have learned that John A. Macdonald had become Canada's first prime minister.
The Pinewood Restaurant, which opened as the Queen's Hotel in 1860 -- the most historic building in Ailsa Craig -- is gone, destroyed by a fast-moving fire Friday.
"Oh my God, I'm just about in tears," said Ron Walker, manager of operations and collections for the Ailsa Craig District Historical Society. "The history that is gone with that building . . . It's such a landmark in town."
Firefighters from two North Middlesex stations and Strathroy-Caradoc were still at the scene on Main St. (Hwy. 7) hours after the blaze broke out shortly after 10 a.m.
There were no reports of injuries to customers, workers, a tenant in the second-floor apartment, or firefighters.
"The biggest reaction here is the swiftness (with which) the fire took hold," said Brad Harness, an owner and editor of the Middlesex Banner, who was at a coffee shop nearby when fire broke out shortly after 10 a.m.
"The flames really got cooking almost right away," Harness said.
Firefighters were told to move away from the front of the two-storey, yellow-brick building when wooden support beams caught fire. Twenty minutes later, the front of the building collapsed onto the street, followed soon after by the other walls.
When it was clear the building was lost, firefighters shifted their focus to ensure it didn't spread next door to another historic building, the Masonic Lodge Hall. It was not seriously damaged.
Residents were shocked by the speed of the fire and the destruction.
"It's a loss to this community and, of course, the family that owns it," said Kandace Bice, 49, who lives across the street.
"It's like a personal loss for everyone."
Witnesses said it's believed the fire was sparked by an electrical malfunction, though fire investigators are still probing the cause.
Owner John Barkas could not immediately be reached for comment. He had left the building shortly before the fire started and it was his daughter who smelled smoke and sounded the alarm, witnesses said.
"Hopefully, John can recover from this and rebuild," said Mike Cronyn, owner of Ailsa Craig Foodland. "It's a bad thing for a small community with a limited number of businesses to lose a business like that. It's tough."
Meanwhile, town residents are taking donations for the family -- two adults, a girl, 14, and boy, 10 -- left homeless by the blaze.
The family lost all their belongings, said Marilyn Barbe, who urges people to call Ailsa Craig and Area Food Bank and Thrift Store at 519-293-3637 to find out exactly what's needed.
"It's really sad for the family and the restaurant owners," said Barbe. "Everyone in town would go there for breakfast, lunch or dinner and they'd have a special meal for seniors every Tuesday."
Walker said the building has been a focal point in Ailsa Craig since the town's first reeve, Shackleton Haye, owner of a flax mill and private bank, built it.
It served as a popular hotel for cattlemen who went to town to sell their stock. For years, it was known as Temperance House, and alcohol was not allowed.
It was from the steps of the hotel where election results were announced. It had a balcony from where soldiers who served in the Boer War were welcomed home.
Eventually, the building was bought by the Bank of Montreal, which sold it in the 1930s to businessperson George Marks, who opened a restaurant. It has had several owners since, and has been operated as a hotel, bar, pool hall and restaurant.
Joe Belanger is a Free Press reporter.
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