Windsor Star Leaves the Nest

by Alice Hewitt

Only a couple of desk phones and a number of labeled chairs identified the empty second floor space of the former Windsor Star newsroom.

The only daily newspaper in Windsor and Essex County, the Star moved to its new location at the corner of Ouellette Avenue and University Avenue Nov 19. Construction began when the Palace Cinemas closed Jan. 8 to prepare for the Star’s arrival.

Karen Hall, one of the Star’s best known columnists, has been with the Star for 36 years. Hall said she wanted to be the last one to turn out the lights because of her seniority.

“I’m not going to miss this building as much as everyone thinks I’m going to miss this building,” said Hall. “There were many years ago that I wished we would never leave but I realized we cannot live with asbestos, ceiling tiles falling in, toilets that don’t flush and big old empty spaces.”

The Windsor Star had operated from the corner of Ferry Street and Pitt Street for the past 85 years. The building has changed over the years but it still retains some of its original qualities such as the green wall lights that indicated when the presses were running in the basement.

The Star’s metro editor Roseann Danese has been with the paper for 30 years and she said she has a lot of fond memories of the building.

“For one thing, the memories involve the people here so it’s not so much the building but it’s all the people who passed through over the years,” said Danese. “It’s a lot of wonderful people and very talented journalists and photographers and ad people. So I’ll probably miss the people the most.”

The building won’t be empty for long. On Dec. 1 its new owner will be the University of Windsor which plans to turn it into the School of Social Work. This is part of an initiative to bring more students into the downtown core.

Star reporter Craig Pearson has been with the paper for 22 years. He said leaving the building was bitter-sweet.

“I’ve had great memories of working in this place and I think there’s been a lot of great journalism going on and that’s why it’s a little sad to see this going,” said Pearson. “But hey, on to bigger and better things.”

Until its new tenants take control, the building remains as a testament to 90 years of hard-hitting journalism.