Carr-Millar-McMillan building restored under heritage designation (4 Photos)

Big renovations are underway in Downtown Thorold.

The Carr-Millar-McMillan building on Front Street is undergoing a facade rehabilitation.

Says Craig Finlay, the Chair of the Heritage Thorold LACAC committee, “It has needed some facade work for some time. We don’t know what it looked like exactly but we’re working with the new building owners in order to give it a third quarter Victorian era look.”

Finlay notes that while they can’t refer to archival footage of the building, which was built circa 1868, they know what a building of that era would have looked like in downtown Thorold.

Says Finlay, “(Around) that time it was wood moldings. One of the most important things is (that) we’re exposing the three cast iron columns across the building and these are from the Dobbie Foundry on Front Street. They’ve been covered up for many, many years. ”

The Dobbie Foundry created these cast iron columns between 1860 and 1880 and there are lots of buildings in Downtown Thorold that have them as well. 

On the inside the new owners are launching a French bakery. Says Finlay, “The owners are redoing the interior of the building. There’s going to be a shop downstairs and living quarters upstairs.”

Finlay says that the restoration of the facade is a great boon for the look of downtown Thorold.

“It’s going to add a great deal to it. We are lucky to have several heritage buildings. They really add so much to the heritage feel of the downtown. People come to see the original buildings and we want to draw tourists to the downtown.”