The big yellow excavator was enjoying its first few chomps of the building’s rump as I walked by.

The construction site gate was ajar. There stood Shaw czar Tim Jennings watching the moment he’d waited so long for. The permissions had been granted. The legal stalemate had been settled. The equipment was readied. The old buildings had been cleared from the path. It was finally demo time.

As the iconic Royal George was slowly turned into a rubble pile I snapped a picture, then heard my name. Jennings had spotted me. The gate quickly closed. He retreated into the Queen Street crowd. No words, once again, from a guy who so far has refused to speak with me.

So the inevitable has arrived. Three years of construction. Hundreds of dump truck loads. And the biggest change to NOTL’s famous main drag since 1847, when the Courthouse was built. Once completed, the “rebuilt” Royal George will be three times the mass of the stone monolith down the street.

Do we all understand what Shaw Inc., the development company that used to be a theatre troupe, has planned?

Hope so. It’s coming.

Built, it will be over 50,000 square feet, burrowed deep into the earth, rising six storeys at the rear with an industrial boxiness, loading docks and service area extending half the block down Victoria Street, where some of the town’s signature heritage homes squat.

Some people worry this project — demolishing four structures, three of them historic — is breaking every single heritage rule NOTL has established. Now that such a hulking commercial structure has been approved, what might stop developers from wanting to piggyback with a new hotel or casino?

The precedent is there. The Ontario Land Tribunal would use that to overrun local objections. These days, the province wants big, more, soon.

Well, too bad Mr. Jennings fled. I have questions.

Last winter, he warned any delay in the project (which happened) would jeopardize provincial funding. So, did it? Two months ago, a federal minister was expected to show up with a cheque. Why didn’t that happen?

Last year, the Shaw lost millions on its operations. Won’t shuttering the Royal George until 2029 deepen losses? The new complex will feature a lobby capable of hosting and feeding 300 people. What about the restaurants across the road?

And with Mississagua Road to be closed all autumn and winter to come, where will all these trucks go? Why has the construction mitigation plan not been made public?

Alas. Dunno. He’s not talking.

But area houses were papered at the end of last week with a one-page flyer saying demolition would take down the theatre and the old heritage barber shop next door (lately, the Shaw box office) by the end of June, and decorative, happy-looking hoarding would soon be installed.

Meanwhile, there is deep concern among some neighbouring businesses. Decorative or not, the fencing will force tourists onto the pavement, create a visual barrier and do nothing to curb dust or dump trucks. Can small indie shops survive three summers of that? With $40 million in Shaw’s coffers and $100 million in construction projects in town, does Mr. Jennings have a plan for these folks?

The legacy of our current council will be forever.

A large hotel and venue plunked in a residential hood. Flaunting of rules intended to protect the old and irreplaceable. Dismissal of citizen protests. Plans to turn a former hospital into a tourist parking garage. Changes of mass and scope to the main street that can never be undone.

Is this the recklessness of part-time politicians and staff that prefers to work in the shadows? Is it carelessness? Or is this town really run by the established, monied, propertied class that Tim Jennings has been so adroit at milking?

Dunno. Only the excavator is talking.

Garth Turner is a NOTL resident, journalist, author, wealth manager and former federal MP and minister. garth@garth.ca