A well-known supporter of preserving Collingwood’s history has received an award.
Council recently presented Richard Lex and his wife Onca with the 2008 Heritage Award for commercial renovation/restoration work.
Lex is no stranger to preserving history since he’s the president of the local branch of the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario.
He and his wife own 83 Hurontario Street, the downtown building that houses the Feminine Touch store.
Richard Lex says the building used to be part of the Grand Central Hotel built in 1875.
He says half of the building was destroyed by fire in 1918 and a new store front was built.
He tells us they had to remove that store front using old photos to restore it to its original look.
You can still see evidence of one of the original owners, Thomas Collins.
Lex says you can see the letters T Collins on the front of the building between the second and third floors.
He says they put quite a bit of money into the restoration, but he wouldn’t say just how much.
Lex has also put in a proposal to restore the Tremont, but he says he can’t talk about the details yet.
Council also handed out 3 heritage destinations to a property at 492 Hurontario Street which was built in 1862, 282 Ontario Street was built in 1893 and 77 Sixth Street went up in 1903/1904.