Renovation of century-old building includes a spooky element

After three years of extensive interior and exterior renovations, the building at 326-330 Queen St. E. in the Sault’s downtown is showing signs of activity – and some interesting additions. 

Gargoyles are now looking down from the roof. 

Cafe 4 Good, which had a soft opening last week, is a not-for-profit that operates under the same guiding principle as Grocer 4 Good at 147 Gore St., providing goods and services to customers and valuable, much-needed training for its staff.

“We provide skills development training for young folks that may be at risk of being in the justice system, who may have already been in the justice system and for other under-employed parts of the population such as Indigenous people," said Lisa Vezeau-Allen, Grocer 4 Good Ability Development Program founder and board chair.

"It’s youth focused unlike Grocer 4 Good. The youth that we employ at Cafe 4 Good are people 16 to 25 years of age who are under-represented in the workforce.”

Funding for Cafe 4 Good came from the federal government. The Grocer 4 Good Ability Development Program received $1.14 million in August from Public Safety Canada’s Crime Prevention Action Fund to create youth job training placements over the next five years.

“Our goal is to place and employ up to 28 youth per year so each of them will do a six-month period of paid employment to learn job skills,” Vezeau-Allen told SooToday.

The cafe is open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday, offering customers soups, sandwiches and salads made fresh every day as well as baked goods, coffee and soft drinks.

The Grocer 4 Good Ability Development Program made arrangements to open Cafe 4 Good at 326 Queen St. E. with building owners Carmen and Ric Muto.

The Mutos are also Grocer 4 Good’s landlords at 147 Gore St. and have been working to revive and re-purpose 326-330 Queen St. E. for the last three years.

“They’ve been fantastic,” Vezeau-Allen said.

Before Carmen and Marc Muto came along, the building had been long-unoccupied after it was badly damaged by a fire in 2009. 

It was listed as a tax sale property by the City of Sault Ste. Marie in 2019. The minimum bid on the property was $39,469.30.

“It’s a good news story because it was a derelict building. One of the proponents that wanted to purchase it was going to demolish it and turn it into a parking lot. But Carmen and Marc had a vision and determination and this was the perfect opportunity and location for us. It’s a good example of how the private sector can help the charitable sector do great things for the community," Vezeau-Allen said.

While the cafe is at 326 Queen St. E., 328 leads to two upstairs apartments and 330 is still under development for retail space, said Muto employee Alex Colasacco.

Like all older buildings, 326-330 Queen St. E. was built to last. Colasacco said its east and west walls are thick, solid brick.

The Mutos recently installed gargoyles on the roof as a humorous spin on how security-conscious they are in regard to properties they own.

Gargoyles, it is thought by some, ward off evil spirits.

The revival of the building is the latest chapter in its long history.

It was listed in the City of Sault Ste. Marie’s 1914-1915 City Directory, said Sarah McComb, reference technician with the Sault Ste. Marie Public Library.

The building was occupied by baker James Hall at that point. Hall’s Bakery is believed to have operated at that location from 1916 to 1952.

Library reference technician McComb said a long list of businesses advertised 326 Queen St. E. as their location over the decades, including:

• Holsum Baking
• Union Finance
• Covenant Book and Gift Shop
• Ed's Souvenirs
• Soo Surplus Store
• Sports Village
• Step in Style Shoes
• Bargain Bob's
• U&R Tax Services
• Lamon's Printing and Laser Engraving

Latest tenant Cafe 4 Good will celebrate the opening with a ribbon cutting ceremony at 2:45 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 8.