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Heavy snow that pummeled much of Southwestern Ontario is believed to be the cause of a roof collapse at a historic Huron County hotel, its owners say.
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The Albion Hotel in Bayfield, a community northeast of Grand Bend, will be closed “for an extended period of time” after the roof of the building gave way, the hotel’s owners announced on social media Sunday morning.
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“Fortunately the building was completely empty and no one was injured,” the Facebook post read. “We will be contacting everyone with reservations and refunding all room bookings during the closure.”
The road in front of the Albion Hotel, part of the village’s main street, was closed as a precaution but other businesses remained open, officials with the community’s chamber of commerce noted in a social media post Sunday.
A damage estimate was not immediately available.
Communities along the Lake Huron shore, including Bayfield, were hit particularly hard by last week’s lake-effect snow squalls, fueled by Arctic air sweeping across the comparatively warm water. At its peak, up to 10 centimetres of snow was falling in parts of the county per hour.
Huron County declared a significant weather event on Wednesday, urging residents to avoid all unnecessary travel. Several roads were closed in the county due to the snow squalls and accumulation.
The Albion Hotel had closed and cancelled events multiple times in the last week due to the inclement weather.
The hotel, which dates from the 1840s, added a second storey in 1856, its website states. The hotel underwent major renovations in the 1980s.
The London region appears to be done with falling snow for much of the coming week, with temperatures rising to 7 C on Monday in the city before returning to a high of -10 C later in the week, the Environment Canada forecast says.
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