Purchased by the Town of Collingwood in order to improve the intersection at Hurontario and First Street, the Mountainview Hotel is gone. I can't say that I share the same memories as others around Town as I believe I was only in the place once. I am sure however that many a Collingwood citizen as well as visitors from outside of Town, downed a few beers and told a few yarns in the Mountainview.
In the addition to a more functional if not safer intersection, I sincerely hope we see a development project on the site that will compliment the Town as well as make much better use of the property.
It is a shame that Collingwood has such a wasted asset as our waterfront. Over the years through both business as well as personal travel, I have visited numerous cities and towns in Canada, the U.S. and abroad that are located on one type of body of water or another. Be it on a lake, a river an ocean or a sea, water draws and captivates people. In most instances when a body of water is utilized for the attraction that it is, it is a huge economic driver for the given area. In Collingwood it is by and large, an unutilized assest that has been left stagnating for years. Instead of perhaps being a thriving tourist mecca, with shops, restaurants, a place for transient boaters to tie-up in order to replensish their gallerys or take in the sights, Collingwood's waterfront is home to a sewage treatment plant, a grocery store and a courthouse, complete with a chain-link holding area for felons awaiting trial. Some such as the Collingwood Branch of the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario felt that the Mountainview had some value and economic promise but alas it is gone.
As the water recedes in Georgian Bay and the sun sets on the remaining pile of rubble that was once the Mountainview Hotel, we can only hope that somebody or someone with a vision steps up and transforms Collingwood's waterfront from its diamond-in-the- rough status to the sparkling gem that lurks beneath.
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