forums
new posts
donate
UER Store
events
location db
db map
search
members
faq
terms of service
privacy policy
register
login




Location DB > Canada > Ontario > Owen Sound > Co-op Feed Mill
 Name
Co-op Feed Mill
 Viewing Options
Log in to activate viewing options
 Database Info
created by Mutt on 10/27/2004 1:43 AM
last modified by Mutt on 11/26/2009 9:28 PM
 Viewability
Publically Viewable Publically Viewable
This location has been labeled as Demolished, and therefore can be viewed by anyone.
 Overview
 Description
Unlike Canada Malting in both Toronto and Montreal, this location still has many original intact grainary and procesing machines from the beginning of the 20th century. Graf is almost non-existant as is vandalism. The reason for this may be due to the location being still partly active. The local GoodYear tire dealer uses a small segment of the lower floor for retreading tires (Bandag) and one smaller area for storage of new tires. The rest of the huge building consists of abandonded equipment, auto bits, forgotten bank records, a box of 1980's porn mags, central silos and grain mixing aparatus. This location has the feel of being untouched by anyone for years. Lets keep it that way OK?
 Basic Information
Type: Building
Status: Demolished
Accessibility: Difficult, its not there anymore.
Recommendation: drop everything - must see if you have a good imagination
 Physical Information
Address

Owen Sound, Ontario
Canada
Owner: JD McArthur Tire
  • See a map of this location
  •  Hazards
  • unsafe flooring
  • Active tire retreading plant in one section of main floor.
  •  Interesting Features
    A fantastic assortment of intact grainary equipment from the early 1920's along with the almost complete lack of graf and tagging appearent in so many places these days.
    Great views of the city and harbour area from the roof if you are flexible enough to shimmy over the open silo top and out a narrow venthole.
     Security Measures
  • CAUTION--cloaking device in use. Appears as a field when active
  •  Historical Dates
    Built: 1903
    Closed: 1969
     Required Equipment
  • flashlight
  • red tights and a blue tutu
  •  Recommended Equipment
    Better views to be had in daylight hours, after 5pm.
     History
    Built to serve the Owen Sound area with mixed feeds that arrived by either rail or boat. This was the mixing and storage mill until the rails were pulled up out of the harbour area. I am unable ti find out the dates for build or re-use. There is evidence of the facility being used for storage by the local banking industry as I found many boxes of banking records from the 1970's scattered around in some of the rooms.
     Media Coverage
    Most of a more than century-old building that many know as the old cereal mill in Owen Sound is being torn down.

    The building is owned by Mary McArthur, who said she is working with her fiancee, Jeff Armstrong, an engineer with Genivar, to salvage what they can.

    "Our wish is to aid in the city of Owen Sound's efforts to develop the harbourfront area," McArthur said in an e-mail.

    "Our plan for the property right now is to take down the middle portion of the building, which is not usable in any way for future development. Jeff and myself will keep the south and north portions of the building and restore these brownstones" by sandblasting the brick and adding new doors and windows.

    Armstrong owns the property behind the building, giving the couple about 11 acres in total.

    "For our land, in the spring we plan to cut the long grass and clean up any garbage or debris around the area. As far as immediate plans, we do not have any other than maybe some pathways and to plant some trees around the property to green it up," the e-mail said.

    Some time ago Henderson Paddon and Associates, the consulting engineering company that has since joined Genivar, looked at moving its offices into the building or finding another use for it, Armstrong said yesterday. But with grain silos in it and the layout of the building, "we just couldn't fit a use to it."

    In November 2008 the city sent an order under its property standards bylaw giving McArthur two options. The first was to have the building examined by a structural engineer and make any recommended repairs to the exterior, including the roof, doors, windows and walls, and ensure future upkeep. The second city option was to tear the whole thing down.

    The work or demolition was to be done by May 1, 2009, but McArthur used the appeal process to extend that deadline, according to city records.

    The building was 64,000 square feet and about 44,000 sq, ft. -- basically the part that now has a fence in front of it -- will be demolished, Armstrong said.

    The brick that comes down will be salvaged and sold, as will as much of the old stone from the original building -- there had been a number of additions over the years -- as possible, Armstrong said. The metal is being set aside to be recycled and the concrete, broken bricks and other suitable material will be crushed and used for fill on other parts of the property.


    Armstrong said he thinks the office portion of the original building can also be saved. The plan is to repair the stone facade, most likely the rear wall of the part being torn down, in the hope it will be incorporated into any future building on the site.

    It's kind of a heritage thing we're doing on our own," he said.

    Armstrong said he's looked without success for photographs of the original building.

    According to McArthur, the building started out as the Ontario Linseed Oil Company in 1903. The company was renamed the Dominion Linseed Oil Company.

    "Between 1923 and 1927, it was the Owen Sound Cereal Mills limited. The south addition was added sometime then. In 1952 it was owned by Grey Farmers Cooperative Association and United Cooperatives until 1969, when my father, J. D. McArthur, bought it."
    PAUL JANKOWSKI , SUN TIMES STAFF ,Owen Sound

     Future Plans

     Stories


    Add your own story
     Photo Galleries
    Click to view gallery
    Mutt's film gallery
    Wed, Oct 27th, 2004
    posted by Mutt
    42 pictures
     


    Add your own photos

    Mark all galleries as Seen
     Web Links

     Contribute

    Edit this Location
     Moderator Rating
    The moderator rating is a neutral rating of the content quality, photography, and coolness of this location.

    This location has not yet been rated by a moderator.
     Validation
    This location's validation is current. It was last validated by Steed on 11/27/2009 12:28 AM.

     Latest Changes
  • on Nov 27 09 at 0:28, Steed validated this location
  • on Nov 26 09 at 21:28, Mutt changed the following: Latitude, Longitude, Co-ordinate Accuracy, Prefer Satellite, Publically Viewable, Year Built, Year Closed, Status, Accessibility, Interesting Features, Recommendation, Security Measures, Required Equipment, Media Coverage
  • on Jun 11 07 at 22:48, Mutt validated this location
  • on Jun 9 07 at 15:21, Mutt censored this picture
  • on Jan 7 07 at 1:50, Mutt validated this location
  • on Jan 7 07 at 1:50, Mutt made this location public
  • on Aug 25 05 at 14:05, Mutt made this location private
  • on Jun 15 05 at 18:48, Mutt changed the main information
  • on Oct 27 04 at 4:59, Mutt made this location available
  • on Oct 27 04 at 4:55, Mutt swapped two pictures
  •  Forum Threads about this Location
    New Thread
     Who's been looking?
    Click here to see who'se been looking.
     Report Problems
    Is this location inappropriate / broken / missing key info?
  • If it's something you can fix, please scroll up and click the EDIT button.
  • If this location was only posted a few days ago, give the creator time to work on it.
  • Please try sending a message directly to the creator of the location. You'll find that info at the top of this page.
  • Otherwise, ONLY if you've already tried to contact the original creator,: Click here to notify an administrator.



  • All content and images copyright © 2002-2024 UER.CA and respective creators. Graphical Design by Crossfire.
    To contact webmaster, or click to email with problems or other questions about this site: UER CONTACT
    View Terms of Service | View Privacy Policy | Server colocation provided by Beanfield
    This page was generated for you in 62 milliseconds. Since June 23, 2002, a total of 737098259 pages have been generated.