Downtown St. Catharines businesses struggle as street closures continue after fires

It has been over a month since the former St. Catharines Standard building went up in flames. And weeks after, another fire destroyed a vacant building next to it.

Work has been ongoing to demolish the buildings with Queen Street in the downtown core still closed.

These fires have stirred a lot of emotions in St. Catharines. The road closure is hurting one business in the area CHCH News spoke to, while others are just sad to see a piece of St. Catharines history is gone.

Back on Dec. 5, a fire ripped through the former St. Catharines Standard building, closing a section of Queen Street.

Just weeks ago on Boxing Day – two more fires – one again in the former newspaper building and one in a vacant building next to it.

Over a month since that first fire, demolition continues.

“When you start to tear down a building and you create more fires, it creates less structural spots. It’s more weak, you have to try to work through those and a lot of the building was just brittle,” said Giancarlo Starnino, owner of Starnino Environmental.

WATCH MORE: Cleanup continues after fires at former St. Catharines Standard building

Now with the road being closed for over a month right through Christmas and New Years, some businesses in the area like Mountain Grill say they have been struggling.

“So many times I have an order and they come here, they don’t find parking and they want to cancel the order,” said Ghan Shyam Kafle, co-owner of Mountain Grill.

Kafle says the restaurant opened just six months ago and hopes the road reopens soon.

“All the bills are piling on, and the economy is also down, so it’s hitting from both sides,” said Kafle.

The owner of Starnino Environmental, who is responsible for the demolition, says the city has delayed them several times – on top of the fact that tearing down buildings that have been on fire presents its own challenge.

“We tried our hardest. Some of it fell on the road but that’s why we had the road closed. Then cleaning the road, we kinda got stop and go there from the city. Again, we complied, the owners complied, we have all the permits. We’re just trying to really get it done. Sometimes they don’t communicate with each other or with us right away and that’s the hurdle we’ve been facing,” said Starnino.

Starnino says they’re hoping to have the road reopened by next week. In the meantime, the city has to watch as history crumbles.

“To see that gap in the street is very bizarre to me. It’s a loss. It’s a loss and it’s also a loss for so many people that worked at the Standard that knew the building inside and out,” said Robin McPherson, St. Catharines Ward 4 councillor.

Niagara police say at this point the fires are not considered criminal in nature, but they are looking for video and witnesses.

WATCH MORE: Former home of St. Catharines Standard goes up in overnight blaze