"Hayes-Dana Corporation" has a lengthy history in Ontario, undergoing several dozen mergers and a handful of name-changes over the years. The foundation of the company can be traced back as far as 1865 in Merritton, Ontario. 

In 1922 C.B Hayes facilitated a merger of a handful of Ontario companies, forming "The Hayes Wheel Company of Canada Ltd". But within 5 years the company was struggling financially and reached out for loans, in the end Mr.Charles Dana (President of Spicer Manufacturing) purchased 49% of the company. In 1927 the company was renamed "Hayes-Dana Corporation". 

(Spicer Manufacturing formally renamed into "Dana Corporation" in honor of Mr.Dana in 1949.)

Following WWII, Hayes-Dana Corporation saw great success in capturing the American car parts market. Capitalizing on the USA-CAN auto trade deal in 1949 they purchased a pre-existing auto parts factory in Thorold and converted it to a drive train plant.  Shortly after, they secured a deal to manufacture rear-axles for the Studebaker Company - prompting an expansion of the Thorold plant the next year. 

Hayes-Dana continued to acquire other companies, diversifying their product offerings and dominating the market. By 1967 they needed a second plant in Thorold so they built one - a 380,000sqft manufacturing facility on a prime lot.  The site was located next to the Welland Canal and had the benefit of being on a rail line. The factory produced car frames for companies like Ford.

In 1977 Tim Lambert, union representative for the Haynes-Dana Corporation made Canadian history as the first father-son duo representing different unions at the U.A.W Convention. His father was the union rep for Ford Motors. 

In 1985 the company was the cause of a major human rights violation and it was once one of the most cited age-discrimination cases in Canada. 57yr old Al McKee had built a fantastic work record over his 32 years at Hayes-Dana, he was even elected union representative for the facility. This wasn't enough to protect him from discrimination, as he was suddenly forced to retire, seemingly due to his age. He fought his case at the Human Rights Tribunal and won. 

The company began to struggle in the early 2000's, shedding over 500  Canadian employees. They filed for bankruptcy protection in March of 2006 quickly followed by the announcement that the Thorold facility would be closing in 2007, with plans to fully decommission the site by 2008. At the time of closure there were ~190 employees. 

The factory would sit vacant and on the real estate market for several years, until early 2012 when Chinese company "Shanghai Taisheng Wind Power Equipment Co. Ltd "  purchased the property and invested a reported $25 million dollars to convert the facility into a wind turbine manufacturing plant.  Acting as a subsidiary, "TSP Canada Towers" was registered in October of 2011.  

The company announced their first order of 58 wind turbines in Fall of 2012. 

Hiring their first round of local workers in 2013, problems arose almost immediately. Inside the plant regarding safety - making news headlines in June of that year when an employee was crushed between two windmill towers being moved along a line, suffering life-altering injuries. The company pled guilty for not having a proper lock-out system and was fined $80,000 for that incident.  But also outside the facility - with neighbors complaining about large truck traffic through a school zone, potentially endangering children and pedestrians.  

Papers located within the facility show several safety incident reports leading up to April of 2016 when another employee of the plant suffered life-altering injuries after being pinned by a 1-tonne metal ring that fell while being unloaded from it's storage location. The company admitted not having the proper safety procedures in place and was fined $75,000. Their corporation registration expired in September of that year. 

For six years there was no official statement about the closure, but operations ceased sometime in 2016 and the facility was vacated with the majority of the equipment still inside. 

TSP continued to hold the property title, but even their parent company's website went silent.  Between 2017 and 2021 the grounds were subjected to several environmental studies where concerns regarding harmful chemicals entering the groundwater were raised. 

On September 5th of 2020 a major fire was reported on the property, contained to the office portion of the factory. Firefighters put up a defensive fight and returned 24hrs later to put out hot spots that had reignited. The fire was considered suspicious but no charges were laid. 

TSP put the property on the real estate market in 2020 for $18 Million, producing a 3D virtual tour online. The property has seen severe vandalism since those images were captured, becoming a regular hang out spot for vagrants. TSP  allegedly found a buyer in the Summer of 2022, but an official deal wasn't announced until December. 

A Stockholder Disclosure Statement was released in August of 2022 by Shangai Taisheng Wind Energy Equipment  stating the Thorold factory closed due to a lack of international business knowledge, a lack of demand for their products and a lack of financial support. They claim the closure was meant to be temporary but now with the pandemic the company can no longer manage the financial expense of maintaining their Canadian assets, thus prompting the sale. They expect to sell the site for no less than $14.546M. 

https://digital.library.mcgill.ca/images/hrcorpreports/pdfs/6/635884.pdf

https://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/news/niagara-region/2013/06/10/thorold-south-residents-raise-concerns-about-wind-tower-truck-traffic-during-busy-school-hours.html

https://www.dana.com.au/downloads/dana-complete-history.pdf

https://negotheque.travail.gc.ca/eng/agreements/01/0198203a.pdf

http://www.trainweb.org/oldtimetrains/industrial/ont/dana.htm

https://www.niagarafallsreview.ca/news/niagara-region/2016/10/11/company-fined-for-thorold-turbine-plant-injury.html

https://ohsconsultants.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/critical-injuries-to-worker-in-thorold-result-in-75000-fine.pdf

https://prod-environmental-registry.s3.amazonaws.com/2021-04/100HayesRd-Thorold-FinalCPU%20-%20signed.pdf

https://my.matterport.com/show/?m=CxinjxekiVv&brand=0lk

Music: Find by Hotham is licensed under a Creative Commons License. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... Stream: https://smarturl.it/HothamMusic​ Download: https://hypeddit.com/track/j2mggw Support by RFM - NCM: https://bit.ly/3Q51A1r -

Looking at the corner of Bolster and Maybourne Avenue, it would be hard to guess this was in Scarborough Ontario. Located just a couple minutes away from Toronto, Ontario's capital city sat one of the most unique homes ever created. A sprawling white stucco structure that has been compared to a castle by many.  Somehow this neighborhood gem remained under the radar for  decades until it went up for sale in 2018. The partially decayed building quickly gained a lot of attention on social media and the listing agent was interviewed on CTV. Despite it's 40+ year existence, there aren't many facts known about the home, nor it's creator. 

In 1971 a single storey post-war style bungalow at 110 Maybourne Avenue was purchased by 48 year old Maximilian Heiduczek. Not much is known about Max before this point, his obituary doesn't mention any background information or family, only that he was a Jehovah's Witness and that he was well-known in the neighborhood specifically due to his one of a kind house. 

Under Max's ownership the unassuming bungalow became a stand out mansion. Room by room, multiple alterations and additions were made to the bungalow eventually tripling its size to approximately 3,400sqft. It's unclear if Max ever obtained building permits for any of the work and it has been said online that Max did the majority of renovations by himself. You can even see him repairing a portion of the roof in this 2014 Flickr image - 

The exterior of the home was a collage of worldly inspiration. There's Roman Columns, Greek statues, Mediterranean Curves, anything Max found interesting he wanted to recreate. With some imagination you can see nods to the Taj Mahal, Big Ben, The Roman Colosseum and several other global monuments. 

The detached garage was modeled like an old European Castle, complete with Iron Wrought and thick wooden doors. Unfortunately this part of Max's creation would collapse in 2013, prompting the city to force demolition of the remaining garage structure for safety reasons. The "fence" that vaguely looks like the  Great Wall of China was also demolished and replaced with black straight iron fencing. During the demolition process Max's sidewalk gardens were ruined, so he spent the summer of 2014 hand-planting new flowers. This was also captured on google streetview - 

The interior was just as disjointed - a maze of custom-made spaces, including a library, sun room and coffin-shaped indoor pool. Some rooms were divided by curtains rather than doors - allegedly inspired by Theatres in Europe. Dark dramatic jewel toned paint dominated the main floor, accented with large wallpaper murals layered directly overtop of the previous wallpaper. These murals covered a variety of themes such as gardenscapes, waterfalls, cobblestone pathways and more. No detail was spared, even the ceilings were hand-painted or wallpapered. Gold-painted trim was the only consistent feature throughout the home. 

Online commentary states Max was a hard worker, but quiet and kept to himself. He lived alone and spent a lot of his time in his garden working on various landscape projects, he also took care of all the repairs to his home. So when his age began to affect his ability to be outside and maintain the property neighbors became concerned. Max stayed in his masterpiece as long as he could, but with his health failing and the house literally falling apart around him he listed the property with Bernie Jarrar of Sterling Realty Inc and moved into moved into "Main Street Terrace" assisted living home where he would pass away just a few months later. In September of 2018 an Estate Sale was held to clear the property of Max's belongings. 

While being listed for sale the house was deemed "unfit for habitation" by a building inspector, meaning it would have to undergo expensive structural renovations or be demolished. The house/property sold for $760,000 before the end of 2018, but would sit abandoned for several more years as the new owner tried to figure out what to do. 

The property was occasionally left unsecured and several curious people took the opportunity to see the interior for themselves, myself included. Thankfully in the two years before my visit the home was spared from vandalism, except for mother nature who was not very kind to the stucco exterior.  

In 2021 a request was made to sever the property into 2 residential lots, this was approved and the building remained abandoned, now more structurally compromised than before. Huge holes had formed in the roof, causing water damage to permeate almost everything. A demolition permit was eventually issued two years later on November 7th 2023,  but the building would stand for another few weeks, finally being demolished over the course of several days in late December of 2023. It appears nothing was salvaged, even the statues became part of the rubble. Thus ending the story of Maximilian's magnificent home. 

Photo Credit: Me Circa 2022

With a grand total of ~2,700 full-time residents in 2020, Apsley Ontario is the definition of small-town rural Ontario. The main cemetery established in 1878 features multi-generational plots, showing just how small the community was and continues to be. One of those multi-generational plots belongs to the "McKee" family. Their history in the area is a little more prominent than most - their extra-extended family member had a unique project that has remained intact since it's construction in 1884. 

Samuel Edgar was born in Saintfield, Ireland in 1814 - In the1860's he made his way to Canada by boarding a ship in Liverpool that took him, his wife and three children - Margaret, Robert McKee and Mary to New York. They later made their way to Ontario, Canada and eventually settled in the small, forested community of what would later became Apsley, Ontario. 

The history of the area is complicated, due to it's rural location. The area has changed names several times as pioneer land owners formed Hamlets which joined to create small villages, later on the small villages were encapsulated by a County. In 2022 the area is generally known as "North Kawartha" but consists of several small towns, hamlets and settlements. 

Sam Edgar was a stone mason by trade and had a particular desire to be buried in a crypt, so starting in 1884 he took it upon himself to build one. Sourcing various sizes of marble and stone from the local area and combining them using mortar. 

There is not a lot of information available about why he chose this location that even  Google Streetview hasn't documented - but unfortunately he would die before the crypt reached completion. Cause of death is listed as Kidney Inflammation, he was 73 years old. 

His dying wish was to be interred in the crypt, so the community completed the construction and installed the nameplate. His body was temporarily interred there but his children thought it was best he be buried in the local church cemetery so his remains were transferred off the property. The crypt has sat empty but intact ever since, and has remained protected by the historical society as a cemetery for over 100 years. Although there is no evidence any other bodies were laid to rest there, as no other gravestones exist.  

Information Credit goes to Private Users on Geni.com, along with Margaret Anne Reeve's historical photo collection. 

The true story behind the infamous "Ontario Cat Lady's House" is impossible to validate, lines blur between fact and fiction. The small amount of evidence-based information leaves many questions unanswered and plenty of room for imagination. However, I've done my best to cover the facts regarding one of the most unique abandoned homes I've ever explored. 

European Immigrant Laura Noak and her Canadian husband Guy Irving Sullivan Miller had their first daughter in 1910, she was born in Quebec and they named her Flora Fern Noak-Miller. Flora would move to Ontario in the 1930's and marry Simon Ernest McCullough, raising two daughters of their own. 

After retirement, the pair moved to a rural property in Burlington and built their dream home. Shortly after they started a Hobby farm called "Ferndale Farms" where they raised livestock, boarded horses and occasionally held yard sales on the property. 

The front yard featured a small orchard with apple and pear trees lining the driveway and the property featured a pond and stream that were partially protected by the Halton Conservation Authority. The property attracted various rare species of bird including the Pine Grossbeak which was featured in two editions of Toronto Birds Journal. 

It's unclear when Ernest McCullough passed, but it is clear Fern continued to live in the marital home as a widow afterwards, filling her time with artistic endeavors featuring her favorite subjects - cats and plants. 

Her hobbies and interests were obvious throughout the home, Fern McCullough was a woman with a passion for bright colors and bold patterns, not just for her wallpaper but her wardrobe as well. She loved plants and decorated her home with hundreds of fake flowers and foliage. She was an avid reader, collected Disney VHS tapes and loved to attend garage sales and thrift stores - dozens of items with the price tags still on could be found sprawled across the main floor. Last but not least, she loved cats. Not a single room was without a cat themed item. 

Cat books, Cat Photos, Cat Paintings, Cat Calendars, Cat Purses, even a dead cat? (Trigger Warning - Even though I don't actually think this is a cat). 

Despite popular belief - Fern did not die in the home, her final days were spent at the Trillium Health Hospital in Mississauga. She passed away October 30th 1999 at the age of 89 years old. 

It appears as though a relative (possibly a grandchild) lived in the home for several years afterwards - a letter addressed to "The estate of Fern McCullough" to a home in a different city, vet records and cremation reports from 2002 were found in the kitchen alongside handwritten notes and letters for 'dad'. 

An email print-out from 2002 seems to suggest the reason the property was left in limbo was due to a will dispute between Fern's children and Halton Conservation.  Halton Conservation and the city of Burlington maintained the property by cutting the grass and plowing the driveway for years, but left the home to the elements. Nature wasn't kind either, the home suffered water damage and had several ceilings collapse.  

The property was added to an abandoned location website in 2012, not taking long to draw curious explorers from across the province. The address was publicly leaked in a Youtube video comment section and  within weeks the building saw major vandalism - items were stolen, ceramics were shattered, the windows were smashed, grafitti littered the walls... By 2015 the location was almost unrecognizable.  

The house was the victim of Arson around midnight on February first 2016. The fire quickly engulfed the whole building and due to the distance between the house and a fire hydrant - water had to be trucked in by tanker. The building was a complete loss and shortly after, what little remained of the structure was demolished. Nobody was charged in this case. 

In 2016 the property was formally registered to Halton Conservation. They proposed  a brand new building, barn and adding an upgraded septic system to the property, the plans were approved and according to Google Street View - construction is well on it's way with major terraforming of the property. The legacy of Fern McCullough and her Cat Lady Castle is no more. 

https://www.chch.com/vandalism-is-the-suspected-cause-of-a-fire-that-destroyed-a-home-in-burlington/

Introduction:

The Holmes Foundry has a long history of Toxicity, from it's very beginning creating asbestos based products, instigating a race riot, union-busting, dozens of health and safety code violations and eventually causing  hundreds of cases of asbestos related illness, several dozen cases being fatal. Holmes Industries largely contributed to Sarnia being known as "The Mesothelioma Capital of  Ontario."

The land was even involved in a million-dollar fraud case years after it's closure.  The complex closed and was partially demolished in 1988, and the remaining buildings were finally demolished in 2021.

Part One: The Early Years - (1918 - 1920's)

Looking to take advantage of import incentives, Michigan Businessman Henry Ford (of Ford Motor Company) partnered with US Senator Lyman Holmes to scout property in the nearby Canadian city of Sarnia, Ontario. Lyman contacted a friend who lived in the Sarnia area named Louis Blunt and the pair purchased a vacant 16 acre property near the border, in what would later be known as "Chemical Valley". 

Construction quickly began and in 1918 the property was transformed into an industrial complex called "Homes-Blunt Limited" The complex featured three different businesses each with their own production lines. 

The main portion was Holmes Foundry - dedicated to casting and creating Engine Blocks and Break Lining for the Ford Motor Company. They also accepted military and agricultural equipment contracts. 

In another portion a company called Holmes Insulation produced a range of rockwool products and asbestos pipe insulation. The final section was called "Caposite Plant" which produced various composite materials for the petro-chemical industry, using amosite asbestos - the second most toxic variety. 

Bringing between 300 and 600 jobs to the community of less than 70,000 people, locals weren't keen on the low quality working conditions so the majority of factory employees were poor immigrants from Poland and Italy who moved into company-provided housing on the edge of the property, a street of shacks known as Berkley Row. 

Early Trouble (1930's)

When the Great Depression hit and jobs dwindled, the attitude changed and more local-born citizens were finding employment at Holmes-Blunt Limited. There was immediate tension between the two groups which escalated after the immigrant workers formed their own coalition. On March 1st 1937, the coalition met the boss with a list of demands including 8 hour shifts, Bathroom/Shower Facilities, a separate lunch room, $5/day wages and formal recognition of their Labor Union. 

The boss refused, prompting the second-ever "sit-in" protest in Canada that afternoon with 70 or so employees putting down their tools and sitting idly. Production at the factory came to a standstill... At least until the morning of March Third when approximately 300 "Canadian-Born" citizens arrived at the complex with crowbars, axe handles and rocks, looking to take back the factory and the jobs of the strikers, by force if required. 

A two-hour brutality followed, with physical fights involving weapons and even a, quote "30 person fist-fight on the roof " that led to one employee falling 30 feet and shattering his wrist and pelvis. Another employee suffered a fractured leg and a third had head lacerations and a concussion. A further fifteen people were treated for cuts and bruises. 

The immigrant workers fled back to their homes on Berkley Row and were followed by angry mobs who broke into their houses, started further fights and looted. Some striker's were even hunted down and beaten in the street, hours after the initial riot.

The Sarnia Police refused to act, claiming the property was under the jurisdiction of Point Edward Police but after the fighting settled, they stepped in anyways and charged 28 strikers with petty trespass. 

The case made it to court where Magistrate Woodrow called the strikers "stupid" and said the Immigrants "needed to learn our laws". But workers across the country were sick of poor conditions and a month later, workers at the General Motor's plant went on strike starting the Industrial Labour Movement in Canada. 

Looming Danger (1950 - 1970) 

Berkley Row was demolished in the 1950's, right around the time the government became aware of an 'impending health crisis' in the area. The complex was known to be quite dirty, with dust and debris in the air but the serious long-term harm of asbestos exposure wasn't relayed to employees. The ill-effects wouldn't just harm employees at the plant but also their loved ones at home who became exposed by contaminants left on worker's clothing.  

Asbestos readings in 1958 showed levels of 1.34million fibers per cubic foot. Today's regulation is 0.01 fibers per cubic centimeter. Making the exposure 28 times higher than the standard at the time and approximately 6,700x higher than modern day regulations. No directives were made and the plant was not re-evaluated for another nine years. 

In 1962 American Motors Company started a contract with the foundry to produce special cylinder block casings. The contract turned into a partnership and by 1966 AMC owned 25% interest in the Holmes-Blunt Company. In July of 1970 AMC bought out Holmes subsidiaries, taking 100% ownership of the company.

The Caposite plant was closed, Holmes Insulation plant moved to another site and the Foundry business expanded, producing various engine parts for the automobile and agriculture industries. 

In 1967 during the plant's re-evaluation the air samples showed asbestos fibres 2.7x the legal limit at the time - (1,890 times higher than modern day standard). Nine directives were issued regarding asbestos handling and proper ventilation - none of which were enforced, so again, nothing changed. 

During one visit a ministry worker recorded 'the highest concentration of asbestos in Canada' - so high, in fact their sampling equipment broke. 

Asbestos Ambivalence

Between 1972 and 73 The Ministry of Health confirmed three cases of Asbestosis had come from Holmes Industries and listed 29 directives to reduce asbestos exposure, along with an order to cease operations until the issues were addressed... The company ignored the order and continued production as usual. Ministry reports show only one mention of legal action against the company, a $1,000 fine when an employee's finger was amputated due to a missing safety guard in 1975. 

When Chrysler Motors took over AMC in 1987, the Holmes property was being actively investigated by the Ontario Ministry of Labor and the company made the decision to shutter the facility in September of 1988, terminating over 450 employees. Chrysler demolished most of the buildings the following year and spent millions of dollars in ground remediation. They then sold the site in 1989 to the D'Andrea Investment Group for $1M.

Post-Closure Health Catastrophe (1987 < )

The study done in 1987 showed employees had a 6x higher rate of Lung Cancer and a 7x higher rate of respitory illness.  Employees were afraid to report health issues they were experiencing - fearing they'd lose their jobs, work benefits and pensions. Most only spoke out after the plant closed, forming "Victims of Chemical Valley" - a group focused on raising awareness of toxic substance exposure in the region. 

In the 90's A former employee turned Union Leader named Robert Clarke created a list of 63 names, those of his former coworkers and their families who had died from illnesses affecting the heart and lungs. The youngest victim was only 15. The Worker's Safety Insurance Board compensated 51 former Holmes Industry workers, but over 300 cases of work-related illness were reported. Clarke later died from illness related to his employment at Holmes Foundry. 

By 2009, 20 years after Holmes Foundry closed - mesothelioma cases were still five times higher in  Sarnia than anywhere else in Ontario. 

Real Estate Scandals

The head of D'Andrea Investments was John D'Andrea. In 1999 he claimed to have found a buyer for the property, an Ontario Numbered Company identified as the Chippeawa-Of-The-Thames First Nations Band. John had privately worked out a deal to only sell half of the property, while keeping half for himself in order to pay out his partners a fraction of the true property value. He was found guilty of fraud and sentenced to 2 years minus a day in jail. 

After years of civil litigation between the remaining D'Andrea investors and the Chippeawa Land Trust over who owned what land,  the case was finally settled privately in 2017 when the entire property was turned over to the D'Andrea group, who became an incorporated company called "Point Edward Gateway Inc.". 

City council tried to enforce the properties standards bylaw, demanding the property be cleaned up or demolished... Instead it was listed for sale after the company claimed they used all their money during the court proceedings and could no longer afford to maintain the property which was being frequented by vandals and vagrants. The listing price was $7 Million Dollars, but no offers would be made until 2019 when a "conditional offer" was made by an unnamed Toronto Developer.  

In 2019 city council reached a deal with Point Edward Gateway Inc to pay for the demolition and clean up of the site, stating the cost would be added onto the property taxes at a later date, or be paid back when the site sold. The initial quarter-million-dollar plan was scrapped by the ministry of labor due to lack of air quality monitoring. New procedures were put into place and the demolition cost escalated to $850,000. The demolition was completed in Fall 2021. 

The unnamed Toronto Developer backed out of their offer, Point Edward Gateway Inc still owns the property and the $850,000 demolition bill was picked up by the city. Current asking price as of Nov 2021 is $7Mil.

https://blackburnnews.com/sarnia/sarnia-news/2021/07/28/cleanup-former-holmes-foundry-property-expected-ramp/

https://thesarniajournal.ca/cleanup-of-holmes-foundry-land-snagged-again/

https://pub-pointedward.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx?DocumentId=2086

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/dying-for-a-living/article1084962/

https://atticbooks.ca/products/122584

https://pub-pointedward.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx?DocumentId=2086

https://ohccupstate.org/index_htm_files/Keith%20&%20Brophy.pdf

https://thesarniajournal.ca/point-edward-orders-foundry-landowners-to-clean-it-up/https://www.theobserver.ca/2015/01/23/holmes-foundry-site-lawsuits-continue-years-after-it-shut-down

https://web.archive.org/web/20090313064510/http://www.caw.ca/en/services-departments-health-safety-environment-report-on-holmes-insulation-and-caposite.htm

Centrailia College of Agricultural Technology opened in 1967, taking over 50-some acres of the over 1,300 acre property belonging to the former Royal Canadian Air Force base which ceased operations the previous year. 

The College took advantage of it's location, partnering with local farmers to give students the most immersive education. Students would live and attend class on campus then do learning assignments and research projects at working farms in the area. 

They offered two year diploma courses in Home Economics, Agricultural Business Management and Animal Health Technology. Centrailia College offered Ontario's only Veterinary Technician course accredited by the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association in the 1990's. 

Reports of studies done by students of Centralia can still be found online, some of the research done there was picked up by other educational facilities's and carried into the 21st century. 

In 1993 the Provincial Government made significant cuts to the education budget and rural education was one of the biggest hit. The last classes at Centrailia were taught in the Spring of 1994. The students moved out and the school locked it's doors.  

Notable Alumni include Bev Shipley and Maria Van Bommel, both went into politics and were elected for their chosen positions. 

When the College closed it was deemed "surplus inventory" and was put on the real estate market for ~$8,000,000. Attracting no interest for several years, the property sat vacant and decaying on the Province's dime for two decades.  

I visited in 2013, I couldn't get into the Middlesex or Bruce Halls. There is evidence the Province was paying for upkeep of the grounds and the exterior of the buildings throughout their vacancy. 

"Allan Barnes", a local businessman purchased the entire property for the price of $275,000 in 2015. That price included all six buildings - totaling approximately 190,000 square feet as well as the 52 acres of land. 

His goal was to convert the "Middlesex Hall" building into a a movie theatre and bowling alley and renovate the other buildings. He gave a tour to the media shortly after he took ownership of the property. 

In 2015/2016 the Huron Park Lions Club (a charitable volunteer group) ran a "Haunted House" attraction out of the Middlesex Hall building. 

In the late hours of Wednesday April 10th 2019, around 11:30PM the "Bruce Hall" building set ablaze and burned for hours. Over 80 firefighters from 4 different departments came to contain the fire. 

The interior was considered too unsafe for firefighters to enter, so the fire was fought defensively and the building flooded with water. It was a complete write off and was subsequently recommended for demolition. 

No charges were laid in this case and the fire was deemed non-suspicious. This was considered the largest fire in the Huron Park fire department's  history. 

As of 2021 the empty acerage has been severed into multiple parcels and placed back up for sale. Middlesex Hall has had some minor repairs and a business proposal has been created but not yet approved. The Dormitory Building is for Lease or Sale. Nothing has reopened to the public. 

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This post is now available in video format! Click here:

The history of this property actually pre-dates Canada as a country. the British-Occupied lands wouldn't be named 'Canada' until 1841, nine years after the property was bought by Scottish Immigrant George Hood. The land would remain within the Hood family for over a century. The classic fieldstone farmhouse built in 1863 also pre-dates Canadian Confederation, which occurred in 1867.

George Hood, his wife Elizabeth and their 5 children immigrated from Peebles, Scotland in 1832 with hopes of leading a prosperous milling business in the settlement of Guelph. Upon their arrival George wasn't impressed with the milling operations potential and decided to purchase 100 acres of forest on the outskirts of town instead. 

The Hood family began work clear-cutting the land and converting it into a working farm which they named Elderslie. They built a log cabin out of trees from the property and expanded as needed. The family was very notable in the community,  son Thomas Hood was even elected to the first Guelph Council in 1851. 

When George passed away in 1857 at 75 years old, his son Thomas (and Thomas's wife Ann) took over the property and purchased an additional 200 acres. 

Thomas Hood was a huge part of several monumental changes in the community at the time, including upgrading roads, promoting the Guelph Railway which would eventually part of the Grand Trunk Railway system and he even helped start the first United Presbyterian church in the area. 

In 1863 the classic Ontario fieldstone farmhouse was built, using stones from the land and nearby quarry.  Over the next hundred years, the house would remain almost exactly as it was when it was built, with  only minor renovations taking place to add plumbing and electricity when they became available. 

Thomas Hood passed away at Elderslie in 1903, at the age of 91. He passed the farm onto his daughter Margaret Hood and her husband Thomas Armishaw. The couple raised 9 children on the farm, converting it to a dairy farm. Other additions were made over the years including grain silos, a huge cattle barn and a modern home. 

The Hood family descendants continued to own the land until it was expropriated by the MTO for the Highway 7 Expansion between Kitchener and Guelph. A project that has been stalled for over 3 decades. 

A Heritage Impact Study was requested by local heritage advocates, but was rejected by Guelph city council with the reasoning that "a study would take too long and thus further delay the highway expansion". 

The land continued to serve as an active dairy farm until 2015 when the property was vacated.  As the MTO began clearing some of the 50+ expropriated properties, the great-great-great grandchildren of George Hood visited Elderslie in 2016 for a goodbye party, knowing it would be the last time they'd see the land their distant relatives once made a living from. 

The Provincial government claimed to put the farmhouse itself on the market, offering a portion of the relocation cost if a buyer could prove they had the means to make the move quickly - but no offers were accepted. It is unclear if any were made in the first place, as no record of the listing exists.  

In the winter of 2018 Elderslie was demolished and most if not all of the building materials were damaged and thrown into a dumpster. A building that stood for 155 years took less than 2 days to tear down. 

The site has remained vacant ever since and the highway expansion has since stalled, again, with the provincial government flip-flopping on funding.