197 Sandwich St. S. Shopping Plaza (Amherstburg, Ontario)

Recollections (1990s, Early 2000s)

During the 1990s and early 2000s, I would occasionally visit the small, now-demolished strip mall shopping plaza located at 197 Sandwich St. S. in Amherstburg, Ontario.

There was a parking lot to the north of the plaza building, connecting to Sandwich St. S.

The fronts of the units were along the north side of the building, facing the south edge of the parking lot.

I remember the west wall, which was close to the Sandwich St. S. sidewalk, having at least one large glass window.

I don’t recall what was to the east. I think it was just an open, undeveloped area.

The now-demolished Big V pharmacy building was immediately south of the plaza building, limiting access to that side of the structure.

I’m not sure exactly how many units there were in total. I recall dealing with at least three separate businesses there, although I believe there were others present at the same time. I estimate that there were perhaps five to seven units.

A Sofos Submarine restaurant was at the west end of the plaza, along Sandwich St. S. I recall this unit being large enough to have two separate entrances, toward the east and the west sides of the unit along the north wall, with large glass windows in between these doors.

In one of the units to the east, there was a small office offering some limited services relating to the Government of Ontario. I remember it being possible to renew a driver license there, for example, but I think other services (such as taking a driving test, or acquiring an OHIP health card) still required a visit to larger offices in Windsor or elsewhere.

The optometry clinic of Dr. Anthony DiPasquale was in one of the units east of that. I believe there were other doctors associated with that clinic, although I never dealt with them.

I don’t remember what the other businesses in the plaza at that time were.

The plaza was demolished in the early 2000s, when the area was redeveloped during the construction of the 181 Sandwich St. S. No Frills grocery store.

Other Information

The County of Essex “2000 Aerial” Base Map from https://maps.countyofessex.ca/ depicts the building:

A variety of sources refer to it as “Amherst Plaza”. I’m unsure how official that name was. If there was any signage featuring that name, for example, I do not remember it.

The name “Amherst Plaza” appears in the March 8, 2016 “Nor-Built Construction promotes new urbanism project” Windsor Star article, but this refers to a different location farther north on Sandwich St. S., at the northeast corner of the Fort St. intersection.

Some articles in The Windsor Star mention the plaza by address or by the name “Amherst Plaza”:

“Health unit to set up in Amherstburg” (30 Nov 1990; A3): Mentions the announcement of “a branch of the Windsor and Essex County Health Unit” that was planned to open at the plaza.
“Safe stymies jewelry theft” (30 Dec 1991; B3): Describes a break-in at “Gold Rush Fine Gold Jewellery” at the plaza.

There are some listings in online business directories with the plaza’s address:

The office offering Government of Ontario services is listed as being at “Unit 3” or “Door 3” in some archived versions of the Government of Ontario’s website:

2000-08-21: The oldest archived version.
2002-08-02: The final archived version with the 197 Sandwich St. S. address.
2002-10-17: The first archived version mentioning the subsequent 80 Richmond St. address.

Page 191 of this document mentions a chiropractic clinic and an optometry clinic being located in the plaza, with another mention of the plaza appearing on page 206. Page 385 of another document mentions a “Trillium Treasure House” business located in the plaza.

As of 2025, the area where the plaza once stood is approximately where the south entrance/exit of the 181 Sandwich St. S. No Frills grocery store parking lot is located.