The Wrecking Ball Arrives at the Royal George

☀️ Good morning, NOTL!

Here's what's in today's issue:

— NOTL News Crew

Demolition crews arrived on Queen Street on May 28 and started pulling apart the back of the building. For something that stood since 1915, it went quietly.

The Shaw announced a $90 million replacement years ago: same site, new building, targeting fall 2028. The timeline slipped two months after Centurion Building Corporation filed a judicial review arguing the Town hadn't followed proper process. The Court of Appeal disagreed. The wrecking ball got cleared to proceed.

The Royal George opened as a movie house and vaudeville venue in 1915, became a live theatre, and got absorbed into the Shaw Festival in the 1970s. For decades it was the most intimate of the Shaw's four stages: the one where you were close enough to hear the actors breathe. It hosted its final productions in December 2025 and held a public farewell in January. A few hundred people came through to say goodbye.

The replacement will be better in most measurable ways: sightlines, acoustics, accessibility. What you can't rebuild is what a place accumulates over 111 years. The Royal George felt like NOTL in a way the new building won't on opening night. That's not an argument against building it. It's just worth naming.

The Rand Estate proposal returns: Developer Benny Marotta's third proposal includes five residential buildings (up to 270 units) and a 111-room Ritz-Carlton hotel. Nearly 90 people attended the May 25 open house, and council heard the proposal June 2. Two previous proposals were rejected.

NOTL's new Official Plan is adopted: Council approved the town's new Official Plan on May 26 after years of debate. It now heads to the province for final approval and will guide future development across NOTL.

Tony Hendriks named Citizen of the Year: The owner of Hendriks Your Independent Grocer received the honour at the Chamber Awards on May 20, recognizing more than 30 years of service to the community.

NOTL Studio Tour this weekend: More than 30 artists will open their studios June 6–7 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The self-guided tour is free and features painting, sculpture, ceramics, glass, and woodwork.

NOTL receives $145,000 in FIFA funding: Airbnb's Host City Fund awarded NOTL $145,000 tied to this summer's FIFA World Cup. The funding will support local soccer infrastructure and community spaces, benefiting roughly 400 players.

Some businesses exist for the tourist economy. Hendriks Your Independent Grocer is not one of them. Tony Hendriks has been running the store for more than 30 years, through the summers when Queen Street is standing room only and the winters when it's nearly empty. The Chamber of Commerce named him NOTL's Citizen of the Year on May 20. A full-service grocery store in a town this size isn't something you can take for granted, and most people don't think about that until it's gone.

Hendriks Your Independent Grocer | 130 Queen St, Niagara-on-the-Lake.

The Royal George held its public farewell in January and demolition started last week. A lot of people have a connection to that building: whether you saw something there that stayed with you, worked there, or grew up thinking it would always be there.

What's your Royal George memory?