There’s a growing year-round community in Crystal Beach, with new subdivisions being built, as well as an increasing demand for short-term summer rentals.Supplied
Canadians typically enjoy hitting the country’s beach resorts in the summer but getting them to stay for longer periods, to return the following year, or to consider putting down roots in the surrounding communities can be challenging.
Some resort areas, such as Ontario’s Blue Mountains, British Columbia’s Gulf Islands and Quebec’s Eastern Townships, are among the fastest-growing communities in Canada, while others strive to up their games.
Crystal Beach, Ont., once a popular summer destination with a big amusement park, is one such community. The amusement park was demolished in 1989 after 100 years of operation and it was replaced by a tidy gated community. The formula for luring visitors is mixing nostalgia with new attractions for the Instagram age.
From 1979 to 1981, Six Flags Darien Lake, a massive theme park, was developed near Buffalo, N.Y, and in 1981, Canada’s Wonderland opened in Vaughan, Ont. Both parks impacted Crystal Beach’s business and crowds from Toronto and across the border that used to flock to the area dwindled.
At its peak in the 1940s and early 50s, the Crystal Beach park attracted as many as 20,000 visitors a day during the summer season. Today, with the park gone, only a fraction of beach lovers are putting up sun umbrellas.
The area is historic so it’s more attractive to have a retro hotel than a cookie-cutter type building.
— Chris McQueen, chief administrative officer, Town of Fort Erie
Local realtor Phil Smith is redeveloping commercial property on the main drag of the lakefront community, part of the Town of Fort Erie. The crown jewel of the long-term revitalization project is the Hotel Philco, a 1907 building that Mr. Smith converted into a mixed-use site of storefronts, apartments and hotel rooms.
“We consolidated several buildings with our main building, which was originally called the Ontario Hotel – though locals called it the Heartbreak Hotel because of its condition,” Mr. Smith says. “Now we have a whole block, with 14 hotel rooms, 13 commercial storefronts and 10 rental apartments. It is helping to bring Crystal Beach back to life.”
The themed Captain’s Room at the Hotel Philco, the crown jewel in the redevelopment of the town’s downtown area. 'It is helping to bring Crystal Beach back to life,' says local realtor Phil Smith.Supplied
Mr. Smith says business has been growing steadily since the Philco opened two years ago.
Two kilometres away, Rizzo’s House of Parm, owned by Matty Matheson, a Fort Erie native and executive producer and actor on the hit TV series The Bear, is also increasing its clientele. Mr. Smith says the chef-turned-celebrity brought about interest in the area by mentioning his Fort Erie connections on U.S. television.
One thing leads to another with that amount of exposure, Mr. Smith says. “People find more than one reason to come. The town officials are supportive too and responsive to our efforts to improve the neighbourhood and the beach itself.”
Crystal Beach, which had a year-round population of 8,524 in 2016 (the most recent figures available), raises revenue from a stronger tax base as formerly abandoned commercial buildings come to life, and from parking and daily or season passes for the beach.
“As the area gets more popular, we’re working to make the streetscape and the beach itself more attractive,” says Chris McQueen, chief administrative officer for the town of Fort Erie. “The Philco is a good focal point for visitors now.”
“We’re doing some promotion of the area, targeting Americans,” Mr. McQueen says. “We’ve put several million dollars into beach improvement, parking and supporting special events such as music events and festivals and a weekly supper market with gourmet food trucks.”
There’s also a growing year-round community, with new subdivisions being built, as well as an increasing demand for short-term summer rentals, he says. Three-day and week-long rentals are up as people who live in or adjacent to the Niagara Peninsula vacation closer to home, avoiding southern Ontario traffic, he adds.
The town has put several million dollars into beach improvement, parking and supporting special events such as music events and festivals.Supplied
To help make the community economically viable year-round, Fort Erie has been approving permits the past decade for new housing on land connecting Crystal Beach to the nearby community of Ridgeway, where antique shops, cafés and a brewpub have sprouted, Mr. McQueen notes.
In late May, shovels went into the ground for a $10-million, 100,000-square-foot plaza between Crystal Beach and Ridgeway, designed to add commercial and retail heft to the area. But as site developer Anthony Annunziata says, “there is a sensitivity to this community.”
“We’re not trying to turn this site into Oakville or Mississauga – we’re trying to preserve it and make sure it’s always Ridgeway and Crystal Beach.”
Mr. McQueen says he believes Hotel Philco and its quirky themed rooms inspire nostalgia that people are looking for – rooms feature vintage amusement park paraphernalia and one even includes a car from the old Wild Mouse ride. It helps preserve the area’s festive, fun-loving atmosphere, says Mr. McQueen.
“The area is historic so it’s more attractive to have a retro hotel than a cookie-cutter type building.”
Philco proprietor Mr. Smith says he was inspired to develop the property after visiting another retro hotel, the Grove, in Kingsville, Ont., near Pelee Island. James Flynn, who co-owns the Grove and a second property, the Grove Motel in nearby Colchester, says it can cost $200,000 to $250,000 per door [hotel] room to set up a good retro property.
“We like to think we bring something to the two communities, in terms of drawing [visitors] to restaurants and nearby wineries and the like. But we still need more attractions, so we’re looking at opening a spa.”
But Mr. Smith has found that persuading lenders can be a challenge.
“When we go to borrow, the banks and even some secondary lenders say they love our ideas,” he explains, “but they’re more comfortable lending to build conventional, concrete hotels that you see at so many highway intersections.”