THUNDER BAY — The Toronto-area developer who purchased the former Thunder Bay District Courthouse on Camelot Street last year expects it will be ready to start its new life as a boutique hotel by this fall.
In an interview Tuesday with Tbnewswatch, David Sun said renovations to the interior of the imposing structure overlooking the harbour are well underway.
There's little activity apparent on the outside, but one of the reasons for that is that its unique architectural features are protected by a provincial heritage building.
Sun said that, for the same reason, the main hallway and the two-storey-tall main courtroom in the 94-year-old building must remain intact.
Nonetheless, crews are busy inside working on the conversion of the rest of the former Superior Court of Justice to a 41-room facility to be called the Courthouse Hotel.
It will be a franchise member of the Choice hotel group's Ascend Hotel collection.
On its website, Choice describes an Ascend brand property as having "a unique reflection of its local community, with staff committed to sharing their insider knowledge of the places, moments and experiences that makes each destination special."
Sun said he owns "apartments and plazas," but this is his first hotel, adding "I really like this building."
He purchased the property from the Ontario government for $500,000.
Sun said he had considered converting it to a condominium or apartments, but was surprised to discover that Thunder Bay's hotel occupancy rate is one of the highest in the country.
He said consultants who did a hotel feasibility study for him showed "there's a really good market in Thunder Bay."
City tourism manager Paul Pepe agrees.
In an interview when the transaction was first announced, Pepe said that the addition of a boutique hotel to the north downtown core would complement the emerging culinary and entertainment scene in that area.
"Consumers are often looking for something unique that has a story behind it, perhaps a bit more intimate in its setting. There's a market for all kinds of accommodation options, and certainly this is one that's sort of exciting," he said.
