International Metropolis

Another part of Windsor’s past was lost Tuesday night in a spectacular fire. Seen above in happier days, the building on McDougall Ave and Hanna, was originally built as the Swedish Crucible Steel Company in 1914. The historic section being the middle part of the building. The Swedish Crucible Steel Company was an early automotive supplier, making castings for the automotive industry.

Photo c. 2008 - John Stefani

A huge thanks goes out to regular reader and contributor John, who was on scene at the fire last night with his camera. John has graciously agreed to allow me to post some of his shots. The rest can be seen here.

This is a shot of the fire at about its peak.

Photo c. 2008 - John Stefani

The main wall gives way…

Photo c. 2008 - John Stefani

… Look out below!

Photo c. 2008 - John Stefani

Firefighters catch a much needed hydration break.

John was at the scene until about 2:00 am.

This is the scene at 7:30 yesterday morning.

The old section is a complete loss.

Ladder truck No. 4 is still on the scene fighting the fire that broke out abut 11:00 pm last night. This shot is from 7:30 am.

A shot of nearly the same view as above later in the afternoon. This shot is from 4:30 pm.

That yellow beast is a Seagrave pumper. Good to see there are still Seagrave Trucks protecting our city.

The large buckled wall was the original exterior front wall of the Swedish Crucible Steel Company building. The part of the building on the corner being a later addition.

Demolition continues on the structure.

More demo…

At the end of the day there was no loss of life, so from that side there is a happy ending. Windsor Fire Fighters managed to keep the blaze from spreading to Aaron’s Mini-storage too. So great job there. However sadly it’s another loss of density to the core, and to the historic factory district. I’m sure the area will remain a vacant lot for many years to come.

As you can see from the 1937 map, the front section was a later addition (on the right). The original building was contained in the louvered section.

A brewery warehouse & the Canadian Battery and Bonalite Co. Ltd. are shown as tenants in 1937. Canadian Battery and Bonalite Co. Ltd, later changed their name to Olsonite. If you’ve got an older house, check your toilet seats, it might be an Olsonite. (According to this history, in 1973, the Swedish Crucible Steel Co. legally changed their name to Olsonite)

In the 1923 directory, the building lists its tenants as the Swedish Crucible Steel & the Canadian Battery Container Corp.

To view some interior shots of the building from 2006, click here to visit Mike Beauchamp’s site.

From the September 3, 1968 issue of the Windsor Star, is this ad from Hi-Ho restaurants.

Hi-Ho was a local chain of drive-in burger joints, that was founded in 1937. A letter was sent by the owner to Walt Disney asking permission to use “Hi-Ho”. A letter was sent back telling him to go ahead, no problem. Try that today!

I’m sure some of the readers out there have some stories of the place to share, so seeing as this was before my time, and long before I was ever in Windsor, I’d love to hear any stories….

From the Border Cities Star - April 4, 1929.

The article that accompanied the rendering was as follows:

THREE MONTH LIMIT IS SET

City’s Trading Centre To Be Completed By July 10

Council Awards Contract To Walkerville Company

Construction activities are due to start by Wednesday, April 10, on Windsor’s new public, market, with the com¬pletion date set for July 10, three months later.

COST IS $180,517

Costing a total of $180,517, with architect’s fees included, the trading centre will thus be kept well under the spending limit of $185,000 set by the ratepayers of the city last fall when the enterprise was favored by a large majority at the polls.

Contracts were awarded by the city council yesterday as follows: general. Alex Barren, Limited, 344 Victoria Road, Walkerville, at $141,000; plumbing and heating, C. E. Greenan and Company, 210 Windsor avenue, at $20,883; and wiring, Duncan and Moore, 344 Victoria Road, Walkerville, at $10,038.

TWO SESSIONS

Two sessions of the council were necessary before the final award on the general tender was made.

Meeting in special session, under the direction of Commissioner Joshua Gitlin, market chairman, the city’s six-man board opened tenders and found that the lowest of the 11 general contract bids had been submitted by the Gosselin Construction Company, Ouellette Avenue, at $139,000.

Later, after the session broke up, it was found that this tender contained figures for another type of roofing than that set forth in the specifications, and when the bids were re-examined it was found that the Gosselin company’s tender was $379 above that submitted by Alex Barron, Limited, on the basis of the specified type roofing.

AWARD CHANGED

Subsequently the Walkerville firm was given the job, and the former award revoked.

In each of the three contracts the lowest figures submitted in each of the different classifications was accepted by the council. The highest general contract tender placed before the council reached to $166.360. The highest plumbing and heating tender was $26,240, and the highest electrical tender, $12,835.

Plans and specifications for the market, which is to be two stories in height, and of the ramp type, were supplied the city by Trace and Diehl, architects, Bank of Montreal Building. J. E. Trace, one of the members of the firm, had previously informed the council that the specifications could not overrun the sum of $185,000 voted by the ratepayers.

ARCHITECTS’ FEES

Of the total cost of $180,517 involved, the architects fees are placed at $8,596, based on the regular percentage for this kind of work. The cost of wrecking the old market is included in the general contract.

When it became apparent at the first of the two council meetings that the Gosselin company’s was the lowest tender, Commissioner Frank J. Mitchell demurred on the claim that the firm was actually an Arnherstburg company with an office in Windsor. He reminded his colleagues that he had tried some weeks ago to restrict the bids to Border contractors.

Later, when the original contract to the Gosselin company was revoked, this point remained undebatable.

Photo from the Border Cities Star -Saturday, April 27, 1929

The new plant of Spee-Dee Auto Wash Limited, on Langlois avenue at Wyandotte street, which is equipped and staffed to give a complete car wash in nine minutes, and is also authorized Simoniz and Alemite service station.

I wish I could get a 9 minute car wash for a $1.25.

Today that won’t even begin to cover your Enwin sewer surcharges. Times sure have changed.

I’m not sure exactly where this was at Langlois & Wyandotte. However there is still a car was on Langlois, just south of Wyandotte. I wonder if this was on the same site?