Diageo has announced construction of a $245 million whisky distillery project in St. Clair Township has been put on hold indefinitely.
In an email to Sarnia News Today, a Diageo spokesperson said they've made the decision to pause for now.
"Given the dynamic nature of our broader business and our emphasis on productivity, we have decided to pause the development of our facility in Lambton County’s St. Clair Township," read the statement. "We will be revisiting plans and timeline at a later date, as part of our regular review of investments and priorities across our supply chain footprint."
A representative for the London, England-based company confirmed it is planning to retain the property for future development of a Crown Royal distillery and warehouses.
St. Clair Township Mayor Jeff Agar said he was surprised by the news.
He said they met quite often with the company.
"They switched the plan a few times from doing a distillery first to going and doing the warehousing," said Agar. "Everything was going good. The staff here at the township, every time there was a change they worked hard and got it all ready. The site plan was pretty much done. But, it is what it is, right? That's the nature of business, I guess."
Agar said while he was disappointed with the news, he's still confident Diageo will be back.
"They didn't say that they were totally done, and they said it wasn't the township's fault and it wasn't Ontario's fault," he said. "They didn't have an answer on why they were doing it now. But, so be it, I'm not upset."
Agar said the company didn't provide a timeline on when it might revisit the project.
"They could be maybe waiting for interest rates to go down, but I don't know," he said. "They never gave anything, just that they'll pause right now and we'll see where it takes us. I wish them the best and I'm hoping they come back soon. We have different things coming down the pipe, we're a pretty well oiled machine here. I'm confident other things will come around. It's too bad it's not going right now."
Diageo announced plans in 2022 for a 400-acre facility to produce 10.5 million proof gallons annually for its Crown Royal Canadian Whisky brand.
At the time, construction was scheduled to begin on Moore Line near Highway 40 in the third quarter of 2022, and be complete in 2025.
In May, the company said the project was delayed, and anticipated warehouses would be operational in 2026.
After that, it was planning to start the next phase of building the distillery and blending operations.