by Brian Bolt for the Sarnia
(2001) In its glory days in the late 1800s, the former Belchamber Hotel building was a downtown Sarnia landmark reputed to be one of the finest hotels in Ontario. Today, while the historic four-storey building at 178 Front St. N. isn’t about to revisit the hotel glory days, it is enjoying a renaissance under new ownership. Its three street-level commercial spaces are occupied with art and gift shops, and the 20 residential apartments are all rented.
“I’m really happy,” said building owner Razz Liddie, who has been gradually making internal improvements to the apartments and now plans to upgrade the exterior façade.
She bought the building about a year and a half ago. She said she was looking for a property and has family members in Sarnia who told her about the Belchamber building. Originally from Windsor, she was actually looking for property there before this opportunity came up.
What attracted her to the building? “I liked the waterfront,” she said.
Now she’s an on-site, hands-on owner living in an apartment that overlooks the waterfront, and says she is fully committed to Sarnia. She has sold some rental properties in Windsor and is looking at buying another property here.
She admitted she was a little sceptical when she first purchased the building. It needed quite a bit of work, and she heard about its reputation for undesirable tenants. Ten or twelve of the apartments were empty when she took the building over.
But she has rapidly turned things around. She spent much of last year on internal improvements like roofing work, new carpeting throughout the building, new doors and other improvements. A new security system is about to be installed.
This summer, she said she really wants to do something with the outside, and work should be underway soon. The combination of the improvements and on-site ownership has improved the tenant situation as well.
“I run a tight ship,” said Liddie, who adds she has good tenents now who are all respectful of one another.
Renting the commercial establishments was the tougher task. Last November, Slocombes moved in, followed by the Rustic Rooster. In the last month, the Art Ambry art gallery occupied the third spot. It’s the first time the commercial spots have all been filled in many years.
Liddie credited city officials with being helpful to her in the improvement efforts. They know she is trying to fix it up, and are happy to have an on-site owner, she said.
The Belchamber building’s history dates back to 1866, according to John Rochon of Sarnia, who is compiling information on Sarnia hotel buildings. There were previous hotel buildings on the site, but the Exchange Hotel was a victim of the great fire of January, 1866, which destroyed much of Sarnia’s downtown.
James Belchamber wasted no time in constructing a new brick hotel on the site, and the Belchamber House was opened to the public in December of 1866. It was made of white brick with a stone foundation and was four storeys in height.
In 1822 the building was enlarged with an addition that faced on Christina Street, while in 1887 it was again renovated with gas lighting, plumbing and an elevator. That’s believed to be the first elevator in Sarnia, said Rochon.
The building went through a couple of fires and renovations in subsequent years. A 1917 fire gutted the third and fourth floors and killed one hotel guest. That marked the end of the building as a public hotel. It was remodelled in 1918 with the main floor being converted to storefronts and the rest of the building to apartments.
The building’s most unusual chapter came in 1922 when Jack Reynolds (The Human Fly) scaled the front of the building. Once on top, he balanced on top of three tables and two chairs.
In 1953, the Belchamber building was damaged by the tornado that roared through downtown Sarnia. The iron balconies and window valances were removed. It lost much of its character and “went downhill from there,” said Rochon.
It sat empty for a considerable time before being renovated and revived as an apartment building in the 1990s.