Finnish Labour Temple owner and community look to rebuild iconic building after fire in Thunder Bay, Ont.
CBC
It's been over a week since a devastating fire broke out at the historic Finnish Labour Temple in Thunder Bay, Ont.
The investigation into the blaze is ongoing, but community members are already trying to think of a way to pick up the pieces of the northwestern Ontario landmark, which was also home to the famous Hoito restaurant.
"You know, the building was like a part of my family. It was like one of my children and now it's gone, you know, so, I mean it's been really hard," said Brad McKinnon who purchased the building in 2020.
McKinnon said the last week has been a whirlwind of emotion as he tries to sort through the aftermath of the fire. On the night of the fire he had just arrived in Sault Ste Marie, Ont., when he heard that flames were tearing through the building.
He said he turned around and made the eight hour drive to Thunder Bay. When he arrived around 3 a.m. on Dec. 23, city firefighters were still battling the blaze.
"This is a tragedy," he said."We're not going to let the building stay in this condition. We're going to rebuild immediately as soon as we can."
McKinnon said he is committed to reviving the most iconic features of the building, including the Bay Street facade, the tower, and the cupola.
As of Tuesday, McKinnon was waiting on the next steps of finishing up the investigation, processing the insurance claim, and cleaning up the building to avoid further risk or damage.
"I mean, it's probably one of the most iconic buildings in Thunder Bay. It was a tourist attraction. It was a sanctuary for the Finnish Community," he said. "It was a symbol of hope, care, generosity and, and it's gone. And to leave it, you know, just to let it go like that would be a crime in itself," he said.
McKinnon said rebuilding might not happen until the spring, but said in the meantime he hopes to retrieve an antique weight scale that was one of few heritage pieces left in the building, according to the Finlandia Co-Operative of Thunder Bay.
The human-sized scale was at the entrance of the Hoito Restaurant for decades. McKinnon hopes to display it in some sort of case outside for people visiting the Bay and Algoma neighbourhood to see.
"Just to use that as a symbol for going forward and determination, and the restaurant will come back and the building will come back," he said.
McKinnon's eagerness to rebuild has been welcome news to the Finlandia Co-Operative of Thunder Bay, who were scheduled to reopen the Hoito Restaurant in June of 2022.
The organization's interim president, Paula Haapanen, said the board is "of the same mind", and will be working on coming up with a plan for next steps at their first general meeting on January 16.
Two years after a man went missing in Scarborough, Toronto police are renewing the investigation in hopes that the public will bring forward more information.
A musical instrument created in Guelph, Ont., has been thrust onto the international stage — or rather, screen.
More than 1,000 Maritime Electric customers are without power after high winds blew across the Island Friday night into Saturday.
The Supreme Court of Canada is deliberating a case that could shape the way sentences are handed down in cases where both the offender and victim are Indigenous, which some Nunavut lawyers say could have ramifications for the Inuit-majority territory.
A man barricaded in a former church in Welland, Ont., was taken into custody early Saturday, nearly 24 hours into a standoff that began over a fence dispute.
Peel police are investigating after a Friday night shooting in Mississauga left one person dead, police said.
Another busy construction season has come to an end in London, and the city is already looking ahead to next spring when a slew of new projects are expected to begin.
Prime Minister Mark Carney has begun to lay out publicly what he sees as boundaries when dealing with China, as his government wades into a new relationship with the economic giant.
Ferry crossings are cancelled and over a thousand households are left without power Saturday morning, due to high winds and severe weather conditions.
Tens of thousands of Nova Scotia Power customers are waking up without power on Saturday morning after high winds and rain hit the province on Friday night.
Statistics Canada is reporting a population decrease last quarter for New Brunswick — its largest quarterly decline since the 1970s, according to an economic development consultant.
Residents clapped, danced, sang and cried in the Anishinaabe community of Kitcisakik this week when the lights were finally turned on for the first time.
A man is suing three members of a Winnipeg family and a real estate broker he alleges used his intellectual disability to financially exploit him through property deals in Canada and India, leaving him out hundreds of thousands of dollars.