Zima building bylaw dispute - part four

Zima building bylaw dispute - part five

Zima building bylaw dispute - part eight Note: article was never concluded in this or next edition of the Bradford Witness - printing error

"Council highly praised the new library building when it was presented to them last week. the architect, Bill Lett, stood beaming along with the library committee as their $1.2 million proposal was unanimously approved..."

"The Trustees of School Section No. 6, West Gwillimbury are asking for tenders for re-modelling of the old school, also for building a new school. For plans and specifications apply to T.D. Stoddart. The lowest or any tender not necessarily accepted. Tenders closed the 11th March."

"Yesterday afternoon Mr. Geo. Stoddart met with a serious accident. He was working on the new school building at Middleton, and the scaffold on which he was standing at the time gave way precipitating him, and Mr. Fred McKay, to the ground a distance of about 25 feet. Mr. McKay escaped unhurt, while Mr. Stoddart sustained a broken leg at the ankle. The nature of the break is considered to be quite serious, and may mean amputation of the right foot."

The Masonic Lodge is located upstairs at 5 Barrie Street. The door to the Lodge is under the sign behind the car. (1)

The Village Inn is located at 2 Holland St. East (on the corner of Holland and Simcoe Streets). There had been a hotel located at this site before the great fire of 1871. The building in this photo (1995) was built in 1920 in the Ontario Vernacular style. The original two-storey, cement building contained living quarters upstairs. One of the early inhabitants was Dave Watson, a farmer from the Scotch Settlement. He was one of the first to work with Professor Day in bringing about the drainage of the Holland Marsh. The ground floor was a grocery store in the early 1930’s (or before it was bought by Jim Gray and his wife). It was separated by a central entrance downstairs.
Ken Morris bought the building around 1933 or 1934. Renovations were done by Art and Len Saint in 1937. The building was converted into the English Tudor-style hotel currently known as “The Village Inn”. A one-storey addition was added later (on the east side of the building) to contain a restaurant and ladies’ room. Under Jack Pong’s ownership, the addition became a Chinese restaurant. Additions were built later at the rear. Frank Sakowski ran the Inn for a while before it was sold to Bill Callum and Mr. Grant.
The two-storey building has a wide, rectangular plan with an asymmetrical organization and a typical ‘Main Street’, storefront façade located at the street line. It is characterized by a high, flat, ‘boomtown’ façade and cornice with brick dentils. The prominent, corner entrance door is oriented diagonally toward the street intersection. Existing door and storefronts are not original. The upper-floor pairs of windows suggest some original Italianate styling. The windows are not original on either level. At the time of the 2000 inventory, the building had masonry construction, stucco and wood siding, and a built-up, tar and gravel roof. It notes that the modest, commercial building is in fair condition with no original details visible. (1, 2, 3)

The frame building located at 38 and 40 Holland St. East was bought many years ago by Mr. McWilliams. He remodeled the structure and put the entrance for the upstairs apartment on the east side (42 Holland St. E.). He died many years ago and Mrs. McWilliams (a sister of William Hirlehey) and her son Bill lived in the apartment. Bill worked on the marsh and in a hockey stick factory. There were two shops downstairs. Joe Scotto barbered at 40 Holland St. East (on the east side of the building) for a number of years before moving across the street to “Rusty” Worfolk’s property at 27 Holland St. East. There was a shoemaker and leather shop for years at 38 Holland St. East (on the west side of the building). There have been several other businesses here including Joyce’s Curio Shoppe (as seen in this photo taken in 1995). (1, 2)

The two-storey, frame building in this photo (from 1995) was once located at 52 Holland St. East. It and sat on a narrow lot and had long sheds at the back. Several families lived here over the years, including Joe Graham, his wife, and sons Leonard, Ogil, Weldon, Gilford, Leeson and Donald. Joe was a semi-retired farmer from the Cookstown area and he ran a farm on Concession 6 on the south side (west of Simcoe Road). The boys had a butcher shop and Weldon trucked, hauling coal for the dredge on the big canal and fill for the dam from Simcoe Street. Harold Boyd eventually bought the property. He had Sinclair MacDonald remodel the structure and add a rental apartment upstairs. Harold’s daughter and her family lived in the rental apartment before the building was demolished in the 1990’s. A plaza was later built on this (and the adjoining McLain) property. (1, 2)