Church and Wellesley community staple considers closing over violence, vandalism

An almost century-old local business in the Church and Wellesley neighbourhood is considering closing for good as violence and vandalism escalate in the community.

Dudley’s Hardware has been a staple in the community since 1934. However, owner Steve Dawson said the area is an unsustainable environment for a small business.

“We don’t want to go. We want to stay,” said Dawson. He tells CityNews the windows have been smashed four times so far this year and 14 times over the last five years.

The windows are now boarded up, and they’ve lost thousands of dollars on repairs.

“One day we came, and there were needles shoved all around my front door … it’s frightening, it is, and we don’t know what’s coming through the door,” explained Dawson.

“We hear the doorbell, and like I’ve said before, the hairs on the back of our neck stand up because we don’t know what we’re going to have to deal with.”

Community members have noticed shift in neighbourhood over last five years

“We’ve seen sustained issues around the chronic level of homelessness, drug use and mental health crises that are playing out on our streets,” said Curran Stikuts, Director of Advocacy and Strategic Communications for the 519.

“A lot of the community members here, we don’t feel safe at all coming outside,” added resident Paige Whiteway. “The drug use has spiked a lot in the area … I’m not saying that’s what’s causing the incidents, but a lot of the spaces are no longer safe for us to walk through.”

The community is doing something about it, planning a protest this weekend to raise awareness and spark change.

“We’re protesting the increased violence, vandalism, and harassment to residents and community,” said community organizer Phil Parsons.

While Dudley’s was the catalyst for the protest, it’s far from the first business to be targeted. Church Street Espresso, a cafe close by, has reportedly had its windows smashed at least six times in the last year and a half.

“[The owner]’s at a point where he’s put up wooden boards and covered them with grass because he simply can’t afford to replace the windows anymore,” said Parsons.

“These are thousands of dollars that come directly out of their pocket. That’s a lot of coffee to sell.”

The local representatives for the ward, MPP Krystin Wong-Tam and city councillor Chris Moise, say there are no easy solutions.

“Unless the government recognizes the crisis, and I would call it a mental health and addictions and homelessness crisis, you’re not going to get solutions,” said Wong-Tam.

“What we can do in the interim is perhaps try and get more mental health workers on the street, make sure police have a presence and make sure laws are being enforced,” added Moise.

Dawson said it’s never been an issue of somebody being unhoused.

“It’s the issue of criminality, violence and harassment … you can be here, but be nice.”