Back in 1951, years before Huron Lodge came to be, the city hired J. P. Thomson to draw up plans for a retirement home to be built on city owned land in South Walkerville. Not sure what happened to this plan, but it never came to be, and it would be almost another decade before Huron Lodge would open on Huron Church, just south of Tecumseh Road.
Discussions are continuing on the proposed establishment of a new home for the aged in Windsor. The committee in charge of the project favors a city owned site bounded by Somme road, Kildare avenue, Turner road and the CPR tracks, about two blocks east of Memorial Park. Present proposal is for the new home to accommodate 150 residents with eventual expansion for 500 or 600. The above sketch is Architect J. P. Thomson’s conception of what the new home will look like. Site of the new building must be approved by Hon. W. A. Goodfellow, minister of welfare, and formal application must be made to the minister by the planning committee.
It was a substantial chunk of land and would have changed the make up of the neighbourhood around it for sure. Given the proximity to the hospital it would have been a preety good location in my opinion.