'It's a sad day,' says Point Edward mayor as Balmoral gets knocked down

A fixture of Point Edward for over a century is scheduled for demolition this week.

Village Mayor Bev Hand said the former Balmoral Hotel, built in 1865, is being torn down.

"[For] many of us that grew up in Point Edward... it's a sad day," Hand told Sarnia News Today. "We all have our memories of different events that we attended at the Balmoral, and different get togethers, and lots of laughs over many years. So, seeing the end of it is sad."

Hand described it as a well-known community gathering spot.

"For different groups of people, that was our meeting place. My baseball team would go in there, and there would be another baseball team in there... so, it was always a place to run into people. We had lots of fun nights and they did new years parties and things like that too. So, it was a fun place," she said.

The Balmoral officially closed its doors in 2010 after being owned by the Kowalyshyn family for 45 years.

Hand said the property is owned by a private group.

"They were planning to develop it, but I haven't heard from them recently. I expect that they still have their plan in place. I can't talk to what it is, or what it would be, but they own the Bridge Tavern property and the Balmoral property... so that's a substantial piece of land when you put the two together," Hand said.

The area was fenced off last week to prepare for demolition.

Mayor Hand didn't expect road closures would be necessary while the demolition is carried out.