The 11-acre site at 9082 Tecumseh Road formerly held an automobile bumper manufacturing plant called Wickes Windsor Bumper. The first Wickes Bumper plant was built in 1952 in Windsor, Ontario and provided a great number of jobs for the local community. After almost 40 years in business, the factory officially shut down in 1990. The building sat empty for 25 years until U-Haul purchased the property in 2015. One year prior to the purchase, the factory was a victim of arson, resulting in $1 million in fire damages and nearly leaving the structure in decay.  

U-Haul's purchase and rehabilitation of the abandoned site, has turned a community eyesore into a valuable amenity of self-storage and truck sharing. Adaptive reuse building conversions allow U-Haul to promote infill development to meet citizens’ needs while preserving the natural resources and land normally required for new construction. Adaptive reuse also allows resources to be focused on integrating environmentally thoughtful features into the existing building rather than creating waste in the form of demolition and using valuable resources for new construction.

Serving U-Haul customers since 2015, this facility was built through adaptive reuse of an abandoned building. Adaptive reuse promotes infill development in an effort to strengthen communities, with the following benefits achieved at this site: 

• 279 tonnes of metal manufacturing & transportation prevented 
• 7,124 tonnes of new concrete pours avoided 
• 7,607 tonnes of construction and demolition debris prevented 

Energy-efficiency and waste-reduction programs at this facility provide the following estimated benefits each year for the Windsor community: 

• 1,984,906 kg greenhouse gas emissions prevented 

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  Steel Production 279 tons (253 tonnes) of steel manufacturing and delivery saved to date

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  Concrete 7,853 tons (7,126 tonnes) of new concrete pours avoided to date

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  Emissions 1,984,906 lbs (900,347 kgs) of greenhouse gas emissions prevented

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  Landfill Debris 7,607 lbs (3,451 kgs) of construction debris prevented

• U-Haul Moving & Storage of Forest Glade