Windsor council paves way for development on Roseland golf course clubhouse and parking lot

Windsor city council voted Monday to pave the way for housing development at the edge of the Roseland golf course site by removing the clubhouse and parking lot from heritage protections while continuing to protect the par 3 course.

All three councillors who serve on the Roseland board supported the measure, including Coun. Kieran McKenzie, who said it is the success of the golf course and not its heritage designation that ultimately protects it from development.

And removing the designation now will make it easier to replace the crumbling club house.

"The building's falling apart," he said.

"So there's urgency with respect to the timeline here. … and the idea of having to go through numerous iterations of heritage applications to deal with the building that we know isn't a heritage feature of the property – it has the potential to bring additional financial risk."

The mayor announced around a year ago that Roseland's curling club and parking lot are among four city-owned properties that will be available for housing development. 

The plan is part of a strategy to encourage more housing in Windsor.

Golf course designed by renowned architect

Neither the clubhouse nor the parking lot contribute significantly, if at all, to the heritage character of the property, according to a heritage impact assessment prepared for the city.

The golf course itself was designed in 1926 by renowned golf course architect Donald J. Ross and constructed in 1927, according to a report to council authored by heritage planner Tracy Tang. 

It was the first golf course in Ontario to receive a heritage designation when a previous Windsor council voted in 2003 to grant it.

The club house building was constructed in 1978 and has been vacant since the curling club ceased operations in the spring of 2024, the report said.

In arguing to remove the parking lot and clubhouse from the heritage designation, McKenzie argued that there was nothing to prevent any council in the future from removing the designation and building on the lands.

Coun. Gary Kaschak, also a Roseland board member, voted in favour of the measure, saying he cared about the course and wanted people to have a positive experience there. 

"They are not getting a good experience with the clubhouse as it is right now," he said.

"It's on a shoestring that can fall apart at anytime. Right now, there's boilers, there's roof problems, there's under-the-ice problems that, you know, that we're going to be [paying] millions of dollars to fix moving forward … That's not good payment of taxpayer dollars." 

But Coun. Fabio Costante, one of three councillors to vote against the measure, said that balancing the needs of housing development and heritage preservation involves moving "at the speed of trust."

"I don't think there's anything nefarious or malicious … with this council whatsoever," he said.

"My concern though is the decision we make today provides persuasive power — maybe not binding power, but certainly persuasive power — to councils of the future." 

Costante said he is pro-housing, but urged council to be "more surgical" in its approach to development.

Coun. Fred Francis told council it can apply for a heritage permit if it wanted to build on the parking lot and club house lands; it didn't need to remove the heritage designation.

He said individuals who served on council when it voted to protect the golf course land have confirmed that they intended to protect all of it, and he questioned how the current decision might inform future council's decisions.

"I really hope that 20 years from now, 10 years from now, 15 years from now, we're not penning letters to our successors saying, 'Oh, with this motion, that was not our intent," he said. 

"'We didn't intend to put housing on the golf course.'"

But Kaschak, who ran for council in the era, said council at the time protected the land because it was at risk of being sold off to reduce the tax levy.

"The council of that day knew that and designated the whole property," he said.

"So now this is a good move here moving forward. And I'm all for the golf course … We want that moving forward. We make good money there. We provide good value to people."