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A hole at the centre
Uxbridge knows that there is a big hole at its centre. A big hole that was supposed to filled with great things. A major corporation with big dreams and bigger promises, building a state-of-the-art environmentally sound edifice that would put Uxbridge on the corporate map in Ontario, if not Canada. But the foundation that lies silent and snow-covered at the southwest corner of Brock Street and Victoria Drive is perhaps a metaphor for the company that once owned it - a great start that promised wonderful things, but now has little place else to go.
When the news of the First Leaside Group of Companies' imminent demise was officially announced last Thursday, some of the larger players in the running of the Township of Uxbridge weren't even aware that the problems had escalated to this point. They knew the crane had come down, but not much more.
Some downtown business owners seem almost laissez-faire about the trauma that this could mean to the community. The fitness centre that was thinking about occupying the entire main floor of the new building seems to be just shrugging its shoulders and moving on to something else. The snow hasn't begun to melt and others are already looking to what the next investor could bring to the table - another seniors residence, an office building, a hotel with a conference centre - all have already been suggested as possible future tenants for what is now just a hole. Good ideas, all, but now it's going to be another set of hurtles and obstacles while the next project is mulled over, decided upon and eventually another crane put in place. How long will that take, while the town looks at - a hole?
Other business owners are already thinking about what might have been. But of course, one can't lament what one doesn't have. The building wasn't complete, First Leaside didn't move in, and the expected 100-150 people that could have held jobs there don't exist, so they will never eat downtown, buy books or lunch or coffee downtown, or get fuel downtown, and local businesses can't possibly miss what they never had, right?
Investors, however, will sorely miss what they did have. Only one investor is mentioned in the stories here, and she has lost her life savings to what she had assumed would be a sure, sound thing. She is certainly not the only individual or family to have lost money in this venture, including more than a few Uxbridgers. These others have not come forward yet, possibly because they are too shocked and saddened by the misfortune that has befallen not only themselves, but the entire town.
Check out First Leaside's website. You can get all the information you could ever want on it. Financial statements, company names, the list of all 19 separate incorporations and all their going concerns. It all seems above board, honest. A search online will reveal nothing other than a few Financial Post articles outlining the cease trade agreement details. Nothing screams Ponzi scheme. Nothing seems horribly wrong. At this point in time, it just looks as though it is all a case of one man, the president of the entire group of companies, ambitiously reaching out for a dream that far exceeded his grasp.
When investors may see any sort of returns on their investments remains to be seen. When the cease trade agreement may be lifted remains to be seen. What may finally fill the big hole on Brock Street remains to be seen. All that can be plainly seen right now is that a company that seemed to have fairly modest beginnings and intentions has let down a community that was looking forward to making it an integral part of its downtown core. compromise needs to be found.
July 14, 2011
