REMEMBERING THE REETA

Snapshot of the past touched surface of its story

[Welland Tribune, 1997]

Coverage in yesterday’s paper of the Reeta Hotel demolition was well read judging by the number of telephone calls from our readers. Some of the calls were complementary, others were anything but.

The Reeta, as local residents know, was certainly a landmark in its heyday. Much more could have been written about it than was actually reported in the story about the farewell celebration to this once-grand building as demolition work on it started in earnest.

It stood as testament to the often glorious pasts that downtowns in communities like Welland had; those were the days, of course, before evolution of the suburban shopping malls, when downtowns reigned as the centres of commerce and finance. They were the days before their flight to the suburban subdivisions took people, and their business from the downtown cores.

Long-time local residents can recall the men’s and ladies wear stores that were prominent fixtures of the downtown- family owned businesses like Blake’s, David’s, Dave Price and Joyce and Marando; Mitchell’s, Merrick’s, and Reitmans among others. They can recall the shoe stores, places like Holcomb’s, McCaw’s Ernie’s; the F.W. Woolworth Company store with its creaky, hard-wood floors, and soda/lunch counter, the S,S. Kresge store, and of course the Olympia Restaurant.

The Reeta was part of this now treasured lineup, in a time when parking spaces on Main Street were hard to find and shoppers actually caused congestion on downtown sidewalks.

Many a family shopped at the Ross department store at East Main and King, and the downtown Loblaws was a bustling place for so many years.

The Reeta was one of two well-known hotels in that block of East Main from Cross to King streets; the other was just as storied and just as well known-the Dexter. Our coverage in Friday’s paper of the Reeta ceremony touched the surface of its history; the story paid tribute to its past (perhaps not enough tribute) and speculated about the future once the derelict building is gone.

Its removal is seen by some officials as a kind of life-restoring breakthrough for the city’s downtown.

Said Chamber of Commerce manager Dolores Fabiano: “This is step in the right direction for the revitalization of downtown Welland.” Wishful thinking, of course, but whether or not the Reeta’s departure helps bring life back to the downtown remains to be seen.

The Reeta certainly has many stories that could be told about it; how it was a lodging place for so many travelling salesmen and other business people who found themselves in Welland on overnight trips, how so many youngsters vied for high profile shoeshine locations outside its door; how the coffee shop was a meeting place for lawyers, judges, police officers, business people and of course shoppers. The list goes on.

The Reeta’s place in Welland’s downtown of yesteryear is storied, well-known and well documented.

We provided a snapshot of yesteryear’s prominence, not a photo album; and we offered a crystal ball look at the shape of things to come without it.

The Reeta’s legacy is well-preserved.