‘The dream of home ownership should always be within reach’ – St. Thomas homebuilder Doug Tarry

“We’re not so much in a housing crisis; we are in an affordability crisis.”

That was the observation this week from Rob Flack, the province’s Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.

He was speaking Monday afternoon at Geerlinks Home Hardware, as he toured several of the outlets in Elgin-Middlesex-London with Home Hardware President and CEO Ian White (second from right in the photo below).

For the St. Thomas stop, they were joined by Mayor Joe Preston and homebuilder Doug Tarry.

Flack continued, “And everybody knows that things are expensive in this world these days. Everything has gone up in price, especially housing.

And when that happens, people put their thumb on the pause button, Number 1.

Continue reading

Neighbourhood blight to be demolished in favour of seniors’ residence

city_scope_logo-cmykFor several years it was a pot-mark on the Wellington Street landscape. The burned-out hulk of the former Ramada Inn proved such an eyesore, Craig Geerlinks and Adam MacLeod across the street at Geerlinks Home Hardware wrote a letter to council in December 2015 pointing out “The building has been abandoned for more than a few years. We are concerned this blight on the neighbourhood, and the city in general, will continue with no end in sight.”
They concluded their missive with the fact many customers leave the store “having purchased home improvement materials, those customers look across the street and cannot help but be disheartened that their efforts at improving their properties are offset by derelict and abandoned buildings such as this one . . . Out-of-town visitors attending activities at the Timken Arena and railway museum drive past the remnants of this now abandoned building and must wonder about our community spirit.”

Continue reading