Wheatley businesses start re-opening process

By Greg Coulter and Mark Ribble

As the Wheatley evacuation zone was moved in once again last week, several Wheatley businesses finally got some more permanent access to their buildings and began the process of trying to get their doors opened again.

Fences being moved were a welcome sight to all involved and to top it off, the intersection at Erie and Talbot Streets opened early last week (except for a small stretch of Erie North).

Traffic can flow directly through Wheatley from east to west (or vice versa) for the first time in about 10 months.

With that, came the possibility that businesses who previously could not access their buildings would be able to.

Lil Hil’s Coffee Shop has been operating out of the Talbot Trail Golf Club since last fall and plans to stay put for the time being, until the massive cleanup needed at her restaurant location is complete. Hilary says she has committed to staying at the golf course for the season.

Others have pivoted as well, with Barry Broadbent’s Car Barn catering trailer finding a new home at Two Creeks Conservation Area. The Car Barn has been operating out of Two Creeks for a few weeks now and experiencing a robust amount of business.

According to Wheatley BIA’s Mike Renwick, the community awareness by organizations like Two Creeks, Talbot Trail and others has had a positive impact on those who are scrambling to get back into their homes and businesses.

“Two Creeks not only allowed Car Barn to set up out there, they’ve also allowed the Remembrance Day services there, the Christmas light decorations and the community fish fry,” he said. “They’ve gone above and beyond in this community.”

Of course, Renwick also credits the Wheatley Disaster Relief group and Wheatley Task Force for all they’ve done to help as well.

Renwick’s own business — Renny’s Village Smokehouse — will be awhile before it can open back up.

Erika and Mike Renwick in front of Renny’s patio last summer.

SUN file photo

“It’s like peeling back the layers of an onion,” he said. “It’s not going to be a quick process.”

Renwick says that he had a second smoker built in the past few months so he’s going to be serving some of his famous brisket at Cured Craft Brewery in Leamington on Father’s Day.

At Briar Patch Studio, owner Tracey DeClerck tells the Sun that she’s in the beginning stages of assessing the damage, as she just got into her building last Monday. She is awaiting word from the inspectors.

Down at J’s Fabric & General Store, Justina Giesbrecht hopes to be ready in a “couple of weeks”, as she and her daughter were able to get in and assess what needs to be done.

Dollar Haven is back up and running after opening earlier last week. They’ve got lots of stock and sustained no structural damage from the explosion. Business has been good so far.

The OG Pizza group has been hard at it making pizzas for Wheatley for a couple of weeks now in their original location on Talbot Street West. They have had about half of their staff return from pre-explosion times and have experienced a brisk pace of business since re-opening on Victoria Day weekend. They spent about a month doing a complete sanitation and removing everything that was not nailed down in order to get their business ready.

OG Pizza staff making some pies for the residents of Wheatley. The business reopened on Victoria Day and continues to serve the community.

SUN photo by Greg Coulter

Mike Untch at Adamson’s Guardian Drugs is still not sure if his building will be fixable, so he plans on staying at the site at the Friendship Club until things become clearer regarding the drug store building on the northwest corner of Erie and Talbot.

Mike Untch checks the stock at the Friendship Club location of Guardian Drugs on Erie Street North.

SUN photo by Greg Coulter

“There’s still limited access to the building due to extensive structural damage, only access is by city building department,” he said. “We’re waiting on an insurance report but they have been excellent to work with. We’re exploring options if it’s necessary to rebuild.”

John and Katherine Urban have been biding their time, waiting for the okay to get back into their wine-making store, Cellar Door Wines. They say they are still playing the waiting game with their building.

“Being tenants, we have to wait for the landlord to get in and assess if there is any damage,” said Katherine. “We’re still kind of in limbo.”

“We will need to discard a lot of our equipment, so we will see how things go in the coming weeks,” added John.

Over at the Circle K, staff was inside sorting out damaged and spoiled items and indicated it would take some time to get ready. A call into head office had not been returned at press time.

At RBC, who also pivoted and relocated a mobile unit to the arena, they are poised to return as soon as possible.

“Like the community, RBC is eager to get back to regular life in Wheatley. Our team remains in close contact with Wheatley officials and we’re pleased to share we now have greater access to the branch to begin preparing to re-open our doors. We expect to be ready to open the branch within a number of weeks,” said RBC’s Director of Communications for this region, Cheryl Brean.

One of Wheatley’s most popular businesses — Lucky Wok — is also in limbo, as are several others who are still awaiting word from building departments, insurance companies and landlords.

The Canada Post office has also relocated to a location on Erie Street South with their lease there due next January.

Attempts to reach some of the other businesses affected were not successful but the Sun welcomes updates from all businesses in Wheatley when they are ready to comment.