Strewn Winery, a fixture on Niagara-on-the-Lake's Lakeshore Road for almost three decades, is up for sale — and the buyers now in the picture want to build a 58-room hotel on part of the property.
Co-founder Jane Langdon, who started the winery with her husband, Joe Will, told Niagara Now that some prospective purchasers are interested in redeveloping a portion of the land for a hotel. The winery itself would continue to operate alongside it.
"We're seniors. We don't have a next generation coming along," Langdon told Niagara Now, explaining the decision to sell. "I love this property dearly. I love everything we have done about it."
The development proposal is set to go before the Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake and its residents, beginning with a virtual open house on Monday, June 29, followed by a public meeting on Tuesday, July 7.
What the proposal includes
The developers behind the project are MPI Group and 11999911 Ontario Inc. Langdon told Niagara Now she is not involved in the development itself.
According to SGL Planning & Design's planning justification report, 16 of the 58 hotel rooms would be built inside the existing two-storey building, with the remaining 42 in a new three-storey structure on the footprint of a former cannery. The new building would cover 565 square metres at ground level and stand almost 11 metres tall.
"No wine production space will be reduced. No vineyard or agriculturally productive lands will be disturbed. All development is contained within the existing building footprint," the report states.
Beyond overnight accommodations, the hotel would include spa amenities, and the application also proposes an event space inside the current wine production building.
The application asks the town to redesignate the land from "agricultural" to a site-specific exception that would permit the hotel and event space as "on-farm diversified uses."
From cannery to winery
The winery sits at 1339 Lakeshore Rd. on the former site of the Niagara Canning Company, a fruit cannery established in 1940 by Peter Wall. The cannery operated for eight years before closing in 1948.
Langdon told Niagara Now she hopes whoever takes over the property carries on what she and Will built.
"What we are always hoping is that as the winery eventually passes into new hands, they are going to be as committed to our wine industry and to ensuring that the property will take its place as one of those places that you really want to visit when you come here," she told Niagara Now.
The virtual open house runs at 5 p.m. on June 29. Residents who want to take part must register before noon that day with senior planner John Federici at john.federici@notl.com. The July 7 public meeting begins after 6 p.m.
