BURLINGTON, ON August 18, 2012 The Riviera Motel, empty for at least six months was found ablaze late Friday night.
Burlington fire crews responded just after midnight to the Riviera Motel on Lakeshore Road near Brant Street to find flames engulfing the second storey of the building. There were no injuries. Arson is suspected and the Ontario Fire Marshal’s office has been notified.
The motel which has long been a landmark along Burlington’s waterfront, was badly damaged by the flames. It is slated for demolition before the end of the year to comply with a change in a Conservation Authority requirement that calls for a greater set back form the lake that is currently required.
The site has a height and density that will allow for a 22 storey building and two seven storey buildings. The owners of the property are currently working with the city to permit an eighth floor on the building that will be a hotel. The developers wanted seven floors for hotel accommodation and an eighth floor for administrative and marketing use.
If the eighth floor is permitted the building will be higher than the Waterfront Hotel which is just to the west of the Riviera site.
The intention is believed to be to have a hotel in place for the Pan American games which take place in 2015.