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Description : Eleven Bradford firefighters were honoured with a service medallion at April 11 Council Meeting. Presentations were made by Mayor William dePeuter. The award on behalf of her Excellency Governor-General Jean Sauve served to exemplify the important recognition of the contribution that the fire service in Canada continues to make in protecting the lives and property of it's citizens. The medallion symbolizes not only long-time service (minimum criteria 20 years), but the continuous and meritous contributions to the protection of lives and property. The following recepients received this most distinguished award provided through the Chancellory of Canadian Orders and Decorations: Ted Bulpit (46 years service); Gord Church (48 yrs. service); Ron Bannerman (40 yrs. service); Pat Pattenden (25 yrs. service); Fred May (25 yrs. service); Roy Saint (46 yrs. service); James Church (50 yrs. service); Orville Hand (40 yrs. service). In addition to these medallions, the Bradford Fire Department was awarded a plaque for their fine efforts in saving the Village Inn Hotel, Nov. 28, 1987. Presentation was made by Councillor Dennis Roughley on behalf of Councillor Bill Dykie, part owner of the Village Inn. The Bradford Fire Department is 130 years young. Their response time to the 400 Highway is a very respectable 5-7 minutes. This high rate of efficiency is due, in part, to the equipment, Bradford Police, the firemen and Bradford Town Council, who ensure there is money available for good equipment. Gord Church, who recently retired, has been replaced by newly-appointed Captain Ted Mendrek. The Bradford Fire Department has originated the position of LIEUTENANT and has filled it with two well-respected town citizens, Appi Sikkema, and Merle McKnight. Their responsibilities will include practice drills and training, along with taking charge of fires. Continual training serves to keep our firefighters 'tops'. On March 23, 1988, two of our volunteer firefighters received CPR certificates with top honours: Mr. John Burns (96%) and Mr. Russ McLennan (92%). As Mr. McLennan said, The working relationship among the firefighters is like a closely-knit family, unlike the rapport on the Toronto Maple Leafs hockey team.

Bradford Firehall Relocates

By Miriam King
Staff Writer

Bradford's old Fire Hall on Holland Street was so small that one of the town's five firefighting vehicles has to be parked elsewhere. Dispatch was through the Bradford Police Department, and fire trucks has to manoever their way through often heavy traffic in the center of town, whenever they were called out.

The facility was obviously inadequate for a department that was providing fire protection, not only for the rapidly growing town of Bradford, but also for about 70% of the township of West Gwillimbury, and a portion of King township. It was no surprise when Bradford Council approved the construction of a new Fire Hall.

Four companies were invited to bid on the new facility. Three of the four estimated a final cost in the area of $1.2 million, or more, depending on the architectural design.

The fourth, Inducon Design, offered a new concept called "Design Build", and a firm price of $978,000. "That's one of the main reasons we went to this kind of facility," said Ted Mendrek, Captain of the Fire Prevention Bureau, and the project manager. "I think up to this point, everyone is satisfied."

Construction on the Melbourne Drive site began in June, and is all but completed. The fire department has already moved in, only eight days behind schedule.

The new structure houses 6,000 square feet of apparatus space, and 4,000 square feet of administration offices. There is room for up to eight vehicles in the garage. Other features of the facility include male and female locker rooms, a kitchen, a 57' training and hose drying tower, and a diesel-powered generator that can provide power to the whole building in the case of an emergency.

The improvements have not been limited to the building. Any delays in response time that might have resulted when the fire department was moved to the west end of town, have been offset by the installation of Opticom lighting at both signals. This allows the trucks to alter the signals in their favour, saving up to a minute on the trip through town.

The Hall was designed to serve a population of up to 30,000 people, and house a full-time firefighting force. Although there are presently no sleeping accommodations, the facility was built to allow the addition of a second storey some time in the future. The necessary ductwork and plumbing are already in place in the ceiling.

At the moment, Bradford has a volunteer fire department, with 25 part-time firefighters. It will be up to Council to decide if, and when, to make the switch to "full time". "It all boils down to finance," says Mendrek.

The impact of amalgamation is also still to be determined, and will depend on decisions made by the transition team, as to "what level of service they want to provide to their residents."

Some of the questions to be considered include the extension of fire safety inspections to West Gwillimbury, construction of a second fire station in the township to obviate the need for Inter-municipal Fire Suppression contracts with Cookstown and Schomberg, and the use of West Gwillimbury taxes to help pay for Bradford's new fire hall. Bradford has taken out a $1 million debenture for the hall.

The fire department has its own "wish list". It is hoping that future allocations will permit the purchase of an aerial apparatus. At present, the town is relying on Newmarket, whenever aerial equipment is needed. That need could very well increase.

"We've already do have twelve high rises in town", warns Mendrek. "Council is aware of that, but...the building had to come first."

Municipality :
Community : Bradford West Gwillimbury
Lot :
Concession :
Description : Convent's Fate Still Questionable

The Recreation Facilities Committee made formal presentations to both the Parks and Recreation Committee and Town Council last week with regard to their recommendation that the old convent/St. Mary's be considered as the "ideal" location to house the new Recreation and Cultural Complex.

In his presentation, Steve Boland a member of the Facilities Committee, explained that "many other sites were considered, but due to topography, space, location and overcrowding constraints, none seemed quite as suitable as the Convent site."

Before endorsement by the Facilities Committee was given for this site proposal, certain advantages were already present: centralized location, adequate parking; land belongs to the Town; large enough to meet required needs, etc. In addition, due to the Convent's age of 112 years, heritage and recreation grants would likely be available, to assist with restoration of the convent. Last, but not least, hopefully the community would support fundraising efforts to restore one of the great landmarks of Bradford.

In order to minimize the disruption of the St. Mary's user groups (Happy Sixties, Rotodale, Cubs, Scouts, volunteer groups etc.), the Committee proposed a relocation schedule be set up for these groups prior to site development.

One of the short-term requests by the Facilities Committee was the adoption by Council to "pretty up" the Convent site in order to cut down on the vandalism which continues to haunt the structure.

Following the presentation, the Committee asked for Council's consideration in approving a Recreation Feasibility study. As Steve Boland reiterated, "the convent is a great asset to the community. It preserves a good deal of Bradford's heritage."

While Mayor dePeuter had no problem accepting the statement and goals as presented, he did have a problem with time frame, considering municipal elections will he held in the Fall. As he stated, "You can't tie one council to another." Since there is no allocation in this year's budget for funding this study, it may well have to wait until next year. In Council's mind, "It's not a priority item; it is urgent, but not nearly as pressing as other matters."

In the Mayor's words "We want to continue to walk, not run." In order for the Committee to "keep on walking", they need Council's approval before they can write up the Terms of Reference, which is the next step in the logical order of progression. (A Terms of Reference being a detailed blueprint of requirements which is tendered out to various consulting firms.)

Without further commitment by Town Council, the Facilities Committee will become a "shell" with no active mandate and may well disband.

This newspaper article is from the Bradford Womens Institute Scrapbooks.

"Whatever becomes of this grand old lady, her colourful history will not be soon forgotten.

When the Recreation Facilities Committee was formed consisting of Chairperson Ann Currie, Jim Culbert, Steve Boland, Ellen MacKenzey, Bill Germayne and Sharon Sinclair, Director of Parks and Recreation, one of their first commitments was to find the "ideal" location to house the new Recreation and Cultural Complex. After a considerable amount of investigative work and discussion by this Committee, the favorite choice was the old convent.

While the convent certainly fits the "centralized" location criteria, an added attraction is the history which surrounds this 112-year old structure.

In 1876, John MacLean Stevenson built this masterpiece (named Masonic Lodge) and lived in it a short 10 months before selling it to the Robert Bingham family. This family stay was a little longer (16 years) before it, once again, changed hands. In 1893, James Boddy became the proud owner and renamed the house "Fairview". He resided there until 1903 when the property was purchased by Rev. Egerton Ryerson Young (noted missionary and publisher) who again renamed the house this time she was labeled "Algonquin Lodge". Upon the death of Rev. Young in 1910, his family sold the house to Sam Lukes who ran the Bradford Flour Mill. Lukes pet name for the home was "Luxalean". The house stayed in the Lukes family until Gilbert Lukes sold it in 1949. At the time of this sale, the plot of land was divided in two; on the plot south of the house was built St. Mary's Catholic School. The house was occupied by a group of teaching nuns of the Ursuline Order of the Diocese of London in Ontario.

In 1969, John and Maria Moniz bought the stately mansion and turned it into an apartment house. Contrary to the zoning by-laws, Town Council closed their eyes and allowed this grand home to be a multiple family dwelling for 12 years.

From the moment John Moniz' sale was accepted by Fred Picavet's cash offer, which in turn, nullified the offer made by the Town's agent, the convent had been cloaked in a shroud of controversy.

No sooner had the new deed owners, Fred and Betty Lou Picavet begun the extensive renovation work to the upstairs wings, than Bradford town council issued a "stop work order" and filed a Lis Pendents with the County Courts in Barrie (Feb. 26, 1981). This order was subsequently honoured by the County Court Office which necessitated an immediate halt on the renovation work by Picavet. While workmanship was in "pending", taxes continued to be paid by the owner (Picavet).

It wasn't until 1987 when an out-of-court settlement was reached between Fred Picavet and the Town that the convent became the legal property of the town of Bradford.

While the "legal hagglings" were underway, the old convent sat empty for five consecutive winters. Pampering can oft times help to slow down the natural aging process. Unfortunately, pampering the convent during that turbulent time was not a top priority item; henceforth, the building was vandalized on a fairly regular basis.

For someone like Jim Culbert, "the furniture doctor", it was nothing less than a mortal sin that such a fine building should have been so readily accessible to vandals. At the time Jim, personally, approached Town Council and Pat Storey to see if the building could be boarded up to discourage further destruction. He was basically told that the Safety Standards Bylaw which was in place to deal with this situation was unable to be looked after due to the lack of a by-law enforcement officer.

Incensed by that line of reasoning, Jim decided to "go to bat" for the convent. Through public awareness and letters to various newspapers, the convent was eventually boarded up which helped to minimize the continued vandalism.

With the endorsement of the Master Plan Recreation Study and the Facilities Committee, to renovate a part of the convent for the new Recreation and Cultural Complex, Jim Culbert is, once again, appealing to the town's people to "get on board" with regard to bringing this matter to the forefront. The decision on the fate of the convent has "gone on far too long" in Culbert's opinion. "Let's get it resolved one way or the other, either tear it down or renovate it and make it into a beautiful piece of property."

As Jim recalls, "A year ago Town Council promised a public meeting to discuss the convent issue which was never carried out. Hopefully, the newly-elected Council will stick to their electoral views on this issue."

A building with such Italianate design is rare in today's society. By restoring it, a two-fold purpose will be served; firstly, it will provide a complex to house programs such as the arts, drama, brownies, cubs, moms and tots etc. Secondly, and ideally, a room in the old wing of the house will be set aside for a "museum" of sorts to provide past history on the convent and Bradford itself".

IF RESTORED, this spectacular mansion will serve as a memorial to the previous owners."

A long way up! Firefighters will train in this 57' high tower. The tower will also be used to dry fire hoses. This photo appeared with an article in the Bradford Gazette.

The finishing touches being put on Bradford's new fire hall. This picture accompanied an article in the Bradford Gazette.

A newspaper from November 3, 1988. The opening ceremony for the new Bradford Public Library at 100 Holland Court was that week on November 6, 1988.

A newspaper clipping with the hours of the new location of the Bradford Public Library, from 1988.

A newspaper article detailing the history of the Bradford Public Library.

A newspaper clipping about fundraising to raise funds for a new Bradford Public Library at 100 Holland Court. Included in the article is a newspaper photograph of Adrienne Price (Librarian), Eleanor Sherbo ( Library Board Chairperson), Mr. Lacasse (President of Gang-Nail Canada Inc.) and Mr. Carter (Vice-President of Gang-Nail Canada Inc.).