ByWard Market eatery could take a year to rise from the ashes

The owner of a restaurant that caught fire in Ottawa's historic ByWard Market in April says it could take up to a year before his business reopens.

Fire broke out on the roof of Vittoria Trattoria at 35 William St. on April 12, heavily damaging the family-owned eatery and spreading to adjacent buildings in the popular bar and restaurant district.

Vittoria Trattoria was undergoing roofing work at the time of the fire, which fire officials later deemed to have been "accidental and preventable."

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"My dream is to have a new restaurant for the first of May of next year so I can celebrate my 50th [birthday]," said owner Domenic Santaguida. 

"I'm not sure if it's a realistic goal, but I'm going to turn 50 either way in May and I'm hoping that we can have a new restaurant to celebrate."

Santaguida said he hasn't started renovations yet because city engineers are still assessing the building. 

"We're waiting on reports from various engineers and [the] insurance company," he said.

Restaurant faces long road to reopening after ByWard Market fire

6 years ago

Duration 0:59

Domenic Santaguida, co-owner of Vittoria Trattoria, is still waiting for engineers to determine when his restaurant will be able to reopen after a fire on April 12. Executive director of Ottawa Markets, Jeff Darwin, says the business is an integral part of the ByWard Market community.

The city said an engineer with expertise in heritage preservation has been tasked to help evaluate the structure. Vittoria Trattoria is part of the ByWard Market Heritage conservation district.

"While some engineering reports have been received in conjunction with the stabilization work currently being undertaken, more stabilization work and resultant reports are expected to follow in the coming days," Frank Bidin, the city's chief building official, said in a statement to CBC.

"They want to make sure that the building facade can be salvaged," Santaguida said. "For us it's a difficult part just to wait, knowing that we can't make an actionable plan until all the reports are done." 

Impact on community

Jeff Darwin, executive director of Ottawa Markets, said the temporary closure of Vittoria Trattoria and neighbouring  businesses on William Street has been felt by the community.

"[The fire] severely impacted the livelihoods of four entire businesses and all their staff," he said. "The carry-on effect, in the mosaic that is the ByWard Market, has been quite significant."

Darwin said the cold, wet weather has also contributed to a general drop in foot traffic in the area. "We estimate that traffic is down for this point in the year," he said. "You really don't get to make that up."