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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1981-07-01, Page 13Blaze destroys Lakeview Casino Arson has not been ruled out as a cause for the blaze which destroyed Lakeview Casino on Grand Bends main beach early Monday mor- ning. Constable Pat Dunn of the Grand Bend detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police says that the in- vestigation into the cause of the fire is continuing. "The fire marshall has been unable to determine the cause of the blaze," Dunn said. The fire marshall's office inspected the scene of the fire Monday morning. Dunn described the fire as one of "indeterminate nature". He said that they are not sure if it started in one or more places. However, the police do believe that it started in the same location as last week's fire. Fire was spotted at the old casino a week ago Saturday. Police later confirmed that it was arson. They were able to put out the small fire with extinguishers and it was under control before the fire truck arrived. The fire sirens interrupted Burgerfest activities early Saturday afternoon. Police would not say whether they believe the two fires to be related. Dunn verified that there was a strong smell of gasoline at the first fire. Dunn said that there were old paint cans and debris in the area where both fires started in the east end of the building, adjacent to the Surf Shop, and the home of Nick Carter, owner of the Surf and Sun Shops. Dunn says that a westerly breeze carried the fire toward the lake, and once it had burned across the building it started back- tracking, totally destroying everything. "It's a miracle Carter's house didn't go up," Dunn said. Carter built the new home this spring, and just moved in Friday. At about 1:30 Monday morning, three youths spotted s oke„ illowing from the 62�Par ell building, and repor it at the police station. Grand Bend fire department was called, and they later asked for help from Dashwood and Thedford volunteer fire departments. Deputy fire chief Prosper VanBruaene said they were thankful the wind was blowing towards the lake. "The first thing I did was look at the way the flags were flying," VanBruaene commented. He said that when the firemen arrived, the thick, black smoke was pouring from the building. "There's no way we'd go in," he said, adding that he had been all through the building the week before at the previous fire. He felt that it wasn't safe for the firemen inside, and since no one was in the building, they wouldn't take any risks. VanBruaene said that the firemen's main concern wap keeping the blaze away from Carter's home and shops. He said that no one was injured. Hoffman's Ambulance from Dashwood was on hand because of the danger of the dense smoke. "We just wanted to prevent it from spreading," VanBruaene said. He said that if the wind had changed directions, they would have been in trouble. Owner of the building, Paul Fraleigh of Arva estimated the damage at $145,000. Fraleigh says he plans to clean up the debris right away. "We want to re- open as soon as possible," Fraleigh said. "We'll try to rebuild, on a temporary basis, if necessary," he added. The former Lakeview Casino housed Missy's, a fast food outlet; Fads, a kite and frisbee shop, and a pinball arcade. Fraleigh's son, Tim, was operating the arcade, which had just opened for the first time this season. Fraleigh says he hopes to see the three businesses back in operation. Fraleigh told the T --A he doesn't know if the pinball machines were insured. Several .of the machines were new, expensive video games. The machines were supplied by a company who then takes a percentage of the profit. Fraleigh received zoning for condominiums at an Ontario Municipal Board hearing early this year for the landimmediately north of the casino property. He said that condominium plans did not include the casino, and he hopes to go ahead with them as soon as the economy permits him. This is the second time that the operator of Missy's Howard Solomon has had a business destroyed by fire. In 1977, Solomon opened up a fast food restaurant in the old dance hall adjacent to the casino, which he called the Dog House. In 1978, he operated both the Dog House and Missy's until the Dog House was destroyed by fire, which was later confirmed as arson. Solomon said he was in- sured, but he had no estimate of damage. He declined to comment furthur on the fire. The loss leaves Solomon and nine employees without work. The operator of Fads, Phil Chedore, said he has not been able to estimate damage to his shop. He said he had been operating the Grand Bend shop for three years, and it was doing a very good business. Chedore also operates a similar shop on Richmond Street in London. Fireman poured water into the Fads shop, because they knew that Chedore had fireworks for sale inside. A few of the fireworks ex- ploded in the blaze. The Fads shop was at the east end of the building, adjacent to the Surf Shop. Some of the kites T-shirts, frisbees and marbles were salvaged. Chedore said he was "upset and disappointed" and he has no future plans at this time. Neighbour Nick Carter praised the Grand Bend fire department for preventing the fire from spreading to his home and shops. Carter said he and his wife were in bed in their new home when they heard the firs. alarm, and noticed the smoke in the casino. Neigh- bours and by-standers helped the Carters carry their furniture outside from the main floor of their home. Later Carter said that carrying the furniture outside was probably futile, because if the wind had shifted and spread to their home, it would have gone all the way up the street and destroyed the furniture too. After electric power was cut off from their home, they stopped carrying furniture out. Carter also removed his records from his office in the Surf Shop. Carter praised fireman Stan Lovie who worked all night at the fire, then returned in the morning as PUC foreman to restore power at the Carter's home_ Carteradded that one good thing can be said about the fire. He said that everyone in the neighbourhood pulled together. Several businessmen supplied food and drink to the tired fireman once the blaze was brought under control at dawn. The Lakeview Casino was once the proud focal point of Grand Bend, but it had deteriorated in recent years. It was built in 1919 by George and Ida Eccleston. Prior to that they had operated a dance hall on the beach for two years.The casino at- tracted big name musicians and held nightly dances in the twenties, thirties, forties and fifties. In 1937, Mrs. Eccleston sold the casino to her daughter and son-in-law Ella and Eric Mcllroy. LIGHTS UP THE SKY The fire lit up sky for miles around when the roof burst into flomes of Ic Ir view C isino Monday morning. This photo of the blaze was token from Government ford Photo by V Alderson Damagesef at $8000 in main corner accident Damage was estimated at $8,000 in an accident at Grand Bend's main intersec- tion Saturday evening. Cars driven by William Allister and Bruce Salm collided at the stop lights. The oc- cupants of the Allister vehi- cle were taken to South Huron Hospital for treat- ment of injuries. During the week of June 21 to 27, Grand Bend OPP in- vestigated four thefts. Four arrests were made. and an assault and a disturbance were investigated. There were 45 charges laid under the liquor licence act, and 31 charges laid under the highway traffic act. In addi- tion, 109 gen eral oc- currences were handled. Ontario Provincial Police at the Pinery detachment in- vestigated a two car crash on highway 21 Friday. A car driven by Cynthia Lee f.ichty of Wyoming collided with one driven by porothy Edith Leyland of'I'.ondon. The I.ichty vehicle sustained an estimated $1100 damage, while the Leyland car had about $1000 damages. In- juries to both drivers and passengers were minimal. During the week of June 21 - 27, Pinery OPP laid 64 charges under the liquor licence act. Four thefts were investigated, and seven charges were laid under the provincial parks act. One impaired driver was charg- ed, and one charge was laid under the narcotic control act. There were two charges laid under the highway traf- fic act, and 18 miscellaneous occurrences were handled. After the fire,Mrs. Mcllroy said the casino represented "a lifetime of memories me." At one time, she and her late husband lived in the building. Mrs. Mcllroy said that she wasn't surprised to see the walls still standing following the blaze. "It surprised me to see it gutted so com- pletely," she added. She said that her father made the walls of poured concrete, and cement was brought from the train station in Parkhill by team and wagon. During the fire, many people feared the wallswould collapse. The Mcllroys sold the casino to Bob McWilliams of Windsor in 1966. At that time there was talk of a year round convention centre, but it never materialized. McWilliams sold the casino to Dennis Calder, and it ceased being used as a dance hall. The building later returned to the Mcllroys, and they sold it to Fraleigh. Reeve Robert Sharen said that although Grand Bend does not have a minimum standards by-law in effect, he is sure Fraleigh will clean up the debris as soon as the fire marshall releases it. Sharen said the village has copies of minimumstandards by-laws passed by Lambton County and Exeter. He hopes that council will pass the by- law at the next meeting. He suggested that Fraleigh could turn the area into a parking lot on a temporary basis. "It would be better than what's there right now, he said. CASINO ROOF FALLS IN — This was the scene from the beach at about 3:00 o.m. Monday when the roof of Lakeview Casino collapsed in flame. The fire engulfs Missy's (formerly The Village Shop) at right. Photo by V. Alderson Imes AdY9c ate Page IA JULY 1, 1981 IJ U L J � LJ Price Per Copy 40 Cents •s+t+ui4 UNtttttlgttitiMi11�1Li1 n•i1 ..:ti {liun. ., -r. MISSY'S BURNS — Volunteer firemen from Grand Bend, Dashwood and Thedford poured water on the casino and Missy's take-out restaurant. By 3:30 the fire was slowing downn, s this picture taken from Main Street shows. Photo by V. Ald r� son �a3 tar Mary's musings BY MARY ALDERSON Goodbye to Grand Bend's Grand Old Lady The phone rang sometime after 2:00 a.m. My hand automatically reached over and lifted the receiver, I didn't wake up. That's the disadvantage of having a phone too near your bed. You say hello before your eyes are open and your mind has eleared.There are. however. many advantages to having a phone on the bed- side table. When people call in the morning and say, "I didn't get you out of bed. did 1?" you can answer, "Oh. no." Because, you're still lying in bed. Anyway, the words "casino" and "fire" soon woke me ' I shook my hus- band. Victor. awake. Ile had slept right through the ring- ing phone. You see, the phone used to be on his side of the ted. but then I had to climb over him to answer it. So. we simply re -arranged the furniture. The words "casino" and "fire" had the same effect on him, and soon we were up, pulling on our jeans. 1 washed my face, and tried to pry my eyes open to insert my contact leases. Normally, when I get up in the middle of the night, I would reach for my glasses, but I prefer to wear my con- tacts when I'm using a camera. and I knew that's what I'd be doing that night. We grabbed the camera hag and jumped in the car. As we headed toward town, we could see no indication of a fire. Then. .uddenly. the sky lit up. We were about four miles from Grand Bend. The roof of Lakeview Casino had just burst into flame. We parked at the Colonial Hotel and arrived at the casino to see fire dancing along the ridge of the roof. We walked around to the beach. to see the casino cckppletely engulfed in fire. and the roof caving in. One on -looker said that the fireworks Wednesday night will be nothing compared to this. And that s what it was - a big fire works display. a great show. A fair sized crowd had gathered by 3:00 a.m. Everyone was enjoying ,the sight. Victor arcl I kept busy tak- ing pictures Just a few days before. we had purchased a second camera. a new flash unit. a telephoto lens and wide angle lens. We ex- perimented with all our equipment And then it was all over. The flames settled down, the spectacular show was finish- ed. All that was left by about 4:00 was a smoldering mess and a lot of smoke. And suddenly the party at- mosphere was gone. The reality struck. A landmark, a grand old lady had been destroyed Sure there are those who. think the fire just got rid of an ugly. run-down eyesore. But consider how many others saw the fire as fond memories going up in smoke. - In her 62 years, the casino two been hostess to a lot of stars. crowds of dancers and many good times. Many people will view the remains of the casino. and feel like they just lost a very good friend. • My thoughts turned to Ella Mcllroy. for whom the casino had been a second home Then I remembered people like Howard Solomon and his staff at Missy's who had lost a thriving business. The death of the casino spelled the end of many things She would be missed. Perhaps she wasn't in good shape during her last years But the fire proved that her cement walls were still sturdy. and maybe, just maybe. she could have been revived Last summer I had a tour of the old building. There were so many interesting nooks and crannies - old posters were stashed in cor- ners telling of events in by- gone days. Her dance floor still shone - perhaps not as brightly as it once did. but it was still a beautiful hard wood floor - so much nicer than the cement floors in today's auditoriums. There was even a concert grand piano on the dance floor. But sometime over the winter the piano dis- appeared llow does one steal a grand piano'? Vandals had destroyed her many windows and defaced her good looks. All of us lost respect . for the grand old lady of Grand Bend. And now it's too late. ALL THAT'S LEFT Crowds gathered to see all that was left of Lakeview Ca<inc Mcndnv r .11 ( T • •"ick cement walls survived the fire. This was token from the beach Stott photo Thewayitwas... M Obi tui i4. of . -..." .6.1_1.. zt— t.:::' .'dir—w.4"...,:-1-4-1-1.PV— Li• ALM IF t , ,�. s ,j 7', .s.ao .a.:' . *t iii-- „ �i• t 4kt 4< s.4 L ri 's , !4,- L. tots x•-•' , `;, .:14 ,t ... A. sii * 1111 .' ; t —1.” 1 i�;k J • • i s i ;:f • �J.tl _) VV 1 ,tn. .,.c Cas no was O v("v DnDI'lar <pc• .. .,• left s Ole old do,"ce 1,clii which ,..,.. . .)oa.House It ..os burned h. or . - • +'l .h'. . IN THE HEY -DAY Sl1 c, 'lift .,I i ., Dad. Inn 1,, { ,•t.,. . s THE POPULAR DANCE FLOOR The polished don' -c ''c.'y ,<,•• s•rMl k <own ,'crho ,t south western Ontario. This photo .toss < 't`e -.1-se 1• "c'' was p, i(te of the community in the 40's •