La Scala Ristorante & Cafe

This really cool looking buliding was built in 1853. It was originally built as a house. The building features mid-19th century architecture. The building has decorative brick frieze, cast-iron windowsills, and an offset front entrance with engaged columns. Around 1870 a one-story addition was made in the back. It was also most likely made for Dr. William Ferris. A few years later, it was sold to Henry Brownlee, who is a Irish immigrant. That ran a grocery store and bakery nearby. He also built the Brownlee Block at the corner of St. Paul and Queen St. But was demolished in 1968. In the early 1900s a portion of the house was rented to Dr. Samuel McCoy, who operated a medical practice from the house. After 1931, the building was no longer a private residence. And was now a commercial building with a apartment upstairs. Since then it has housed a lot of different businesses, such as insurance brokers, real estate agencies, an architectural firm, a camera shop, and a wheel truing shop. In March 2014, An Italian restaurant moved there business here. And restored the building. But before that in 2012, the property and the one beside it which at the was the St. Catharines Standard building were sold to a developer named Italo Ferrari. The restaurant closed on November 3, 2018. So the developer could start building. The property still remains empty to this day. The building was also a designated heritage building. That was added on the Heritage Registry on February 28, 2022. And was in the Queen Street Heritage District that was designated in 1991. The building suffered a fire around 7:00 p.m. on Friday, December, 26, 2025. The fire was in the attic and was hard to put out. So they had to demolish the upstairs of the building. To fully put it out. They had the fire fully under control around 1:00 a.m. After the fire the building was a total loss and will be fully demolished in the upcoming weeks.