647 Queen St. set for demolition

The former site of Silly Rabbit Vape Shop at 647 Queen St. East will be demolished, directors of the Downtown Association were told Wednesday night.

"On May 8, 2024, just days after the Festival of Beer, 647 Queen St. East experienced a devastating fire," executive director Nicholas Luck told the business group's monthly board meeting.

"Fire crews were successful in extinguishing the flames and the building is set to be demolished.

"Unfortunately, due to this fire, the impacted block and neighbouring properties and businesses incurred minor-to-severe damage. We have been attempting to retrieve any information on the timeline of the building as well as the proactive steps the city is taking to reduce or eliminate the risk of this occurring in the downtown again."

So far, Luck hasn't had much luck in extracting additional information from city officials about the investigation.

"It's well known that was a vacant and dilapidated building that was being used by squatters," said Nicholas Rosset, the Downtown Association's chair.

"It was problematic for a long time. If that was known, then obviously there's legalities around it."

"The result of the fire is that it has affected businesses nearby. And is there anything that can be done further to ensure that this doesn't happen again, and affect other businesses?

"Is that something that can be looked at to improve on? Obviously this failed, this time," Rosset said.