‘Eyesore’ no more: Woodstock council backs downtown lot’s renewal

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Supporting an application to amend Oxford County’s official plan, Woodstock’s city council has paved the way for a residential building at the “eyesore” former site of a historic downtown theatre.

In a unanimous vote, council recently supported an application to amend Oxford County’s official plan to allow an eight-storey, 36-unit residential building, including some affordable units, to be constructed where the Capitol Theatre once stood.

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The amendment is necessary because Oxford County’s official plan requires a commercial component on the ground floor for structures in the city’s core. A rezoning permit at the 385 and 387 Dundas St. property also was required to increase the allowable building height from six to eight storeys.

“This is something that is not only an eyesore here in the community, but it’s something that is desperately needed,” Woodstock Mayor Jerry Acchione said at the meeting. “I’m looking forward to this being developed.”

The lot has been vacant since the theatre was demolished in 2010 following the collapse of its roof. An apartment complex will add homes to satisfy the growing need for housing.

“I think this is a great idea to have these apartments downtown,” Coun. Connie Lauder said at the meeting. “This is what we want to get people downtown.”

Though the building’s design would compliment Dundas Street’s existing streetscape, the chair of Woodstock’s downtown business improvement area had mixed feelings about the building’s lack of ground-floor commercial space, when contacted by The Free Press in May.

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“We respect the design having the look and feel of ground-floor commercial, but understand the lack of ground-floor commercial is in contradiction to the zoning requirements,” Steve McGregor said in May.

Nobody from the BIA responded to a request for comment on Monday.

After the Capitol Theatre was demolished, the property was sold to a developer, and after nothing came of the sale, Oxford County took ownership in 2022.

The theatre had a long history before it fell into disrepair.

Originally built as the Woodstock Opera House in the 1860s, it was redeveloped as Carter’s Music Theatre after an 1893 fire. It once hosted an election debate between Sir Wilfrid Laurier and Sir Robert Borden, both candidates for prime minister in 1911.

The theatre also operated as a cinema, closing its doors in the late 1990s.

Although Woodstock council has supported the application to amend Oxford County’s official plan, county council still will have to give the proposal its approval.

bwilliams@postmedia.com

@BrianWatLFPress

The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada

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