Port Dalhousie comeback

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For many years people from across Southern Ontario would make the trip to Port Dalhousie every summer. It was a hotspot for tourists and locals until a new condo development, that has yet to be built, changed the landscape.

Now, 6 years after the Port Place project was given the green light, things look like they’re about to change…again.

There are a few reminders of “Old Port Dalhousie” but now broken glass litters the ground and graffiti is scrawled on buildings. It’s an area sorely in need of revival.
It’s history is rich, dating back to the first canal in the 1800’s. Today many of those heritage buildings have been gutted.

The iconic Port Mansion was torn down in 2012 an empty space left in its place, all to make way for “Port Place” a 17 storey condo tower billed as the project that would breathe new life into Port Dalhousie.

And now both piers are closed because of structural issues, residents are frustrated and some have decided to do something about it. Wolfgang Guembel and his business partner are restoring the old Lions Tavern and bank next door.

It’s been 6 years since Port Place was given the green light. Fortress took over the project earlier this year and gave deposits back to about half of the more than two dozen people who put money down. The company says they hope to start construction here in September. And a major cleanup is underway before Henley Island hosts the rowing events during the Pan Am games next month, in hopes of bringing visitors back to the area.