Ledo Hotel

The building was expanded in 1914, allowing for more businesses on the first storey as well as hotel suites on the second storey.[11] A third storey was also added to allow for greater capacity in the hotel.[12] It was at this time that the building was named the Sudbury Hotel, providing accommodations for travelers.[12] The first storey now housed a lobby for the hotel as well as the other businesses, including the addition of a taxi service.[12] The building was purchased in 1930 by Hascal Moses, a Jewish immigrant from Romania, who also owned the Moses Block in downtown Sudbury, a smaller flat-iron building.[13] Moses sold the building upon his retirement in 1949.[13] A fire destroyed the building in the winter of 1952, at which time the current Ledo Hotel was built, matching the footprint of the former Sudbury Hotel.[4]

The current Ledo building functioned as a hotel for over 50 years, accommodating guests and tourist through the end of the 1900s.[14] The Ledo, as well as the adjacent sites (Ledo Block), was then purchased in 2007 by George Soule, a Sudbury landlord, who operated the Ledo Hotel as a rooming house that was rented out on a monthly basis.[1] The Ledo currently has 27 rooms across the second and third storeys, while the first acts as rentable storage for local businesses.[1]

There have been multiple developments in downtown Sudbury in the past decade, including the McEwen School of Architecture as well as the Place Des Arts.[18][19] These are part of a rejuvenation project in the downtown core of Sudbury, aiming to attract individuals to the once largely active center of Sudbury. The Elgin Street Greenway is a proposed development in which Elgin Street, running alongside the rail lines, is regreened in an effort to create a multi-use pathway that buffers the rail lines from the downtown.[20] The Ledo Block is located along the Greenway, making the site attractive to developers.[6]

The McEwen School of Architecture, belonging to Laurentian University, is located in the downtown core of Sudbury.[21] Completed in 2013, the project sits at 85 Elm Street, though community members formed a Best Option committee that proposed the project be located on the Ledo Block.[2] The current location of the architecture school displaced the local farmers market, and there were various other proposals that allowed for the farmers market to remain untouched.[22] Disadvantages to the current site were highlighted by community members, including proximity to the rail lines, relocation of the market as well as a loss of heavily used parking spaces. The Ledo Block, however, would not remove as much parking, it would allow the school to sit further from the rail lines and would be located in the “arts district” of the downtown core.[6] This proposal acknowledged the existing buildings, stating that they could either be incorporated in an adaptive reuse or removed before construction began. Laurentian University's chief of staff at the time, Chris Mercer, stated that the architecture school requires more space than the Ledo Block offered.[23] The development at the Ledo Block, according to the Best Option committee, also allowed for the addition of a student residence in close proximity to the school.[2] Laurentian University currently does not have a student residence in proximity to the architecture school.[24] Soule, the property owner, declared an interest to sell the property to the city for such a development.[6]

A thesis project from McEwen architecture student, Christopher Baziw, Home: Sudbury is a proposal to begin to resolve the challenge of homelessness in Sudbury.[25] The thesis culminates in a proposed development at the Ledo Hotel that provides affordable housing for the vulnerable community as well as various services that can aid with rehabilitation from homelessness.[7] Similar to the McEwen School of Architecture proposal, Baziw's thesis proposal inhabits the entire Ledo Block, acting as an addition to the existing Ledo Hotel building.[7]

Mural on the Ledo Hotel

A proposed development from a private-sector Sudbury group named Le Ledo Inc. which sees the Ledo reimagined as a 150,000 sq ft (14,000 m²) mixed-use commercial facility. The envisioned project is an adaptive reuse of the Ledo Hotel, with the addition of a 14-storey tower to be used as either a hotel or for residential purposes. The group is fronted by spokesperson Chris Tammi, a Sudbury real-estate broker, who has stated the intent of the project is to aid in the revitalization of the downtown core.[26] Tammi sees the project to be a seamless addition to the City of Greater Sudbury's Downtown Master Plan, which includes the Elgin street Greenway.[27][20] The project is still waiting on municipal approvals, but will adhere to uses allowed within C-6 commercial zoning.[8]

A mural was added to the building in early October 2020. The mural reads 'Welcome to the Junction' and bears a website below.[28] The website depicts various proposed projects in the Junction area of downtown Sudbury, including the Elgin Greenway project, the Sudbury Library and Art Gallery as well as the proposed development for the Ledo Hotel by Le Lido Inc.[20][29]