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Hello again explorers,
We here at UrbEx Barrie need to get down to planning our autumn trips before the snow flies. The 'exploring' season is not over and we've just come back from a quick day trip out to nearby Eugenia as we've heard there was not only some natural beauty to photograph but also the hulk of an old abandoned mill or generating station from the turn of the century. Let's have a looky-loo of what we saw . . .
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Eugenia is a small community just north of Flesherton, Ontario
The community is best known for Lake Eugenia and Eugenia Falls as well as the Beaver River. The settlement of Eugenia began in the 1850s and continued to expand through to the 1880s to reach a total of about 200. Early visitors were attracted to the area by a large water falls, Eugenia Falls. Prospectors were also attracted for the chance to get rich by panning for gold. After a fair sized gold rush, it was discovered that the "gold" was in fact pyrite, or fool's gold.
First explored by a pioneer named Brownlee in 1853 who had come across the falls by accident while hunting. Brownlee with a neighbour returned latter and discovered gold which in fact was worthless pyrite (or fool's gold). Within a few weeks, a very short-lived proper 'gold rush' was on with dissapointments to all who endeavoured in this venture.
In 1895, William Hogg (originally from Hogg's Hallow near Toronto), had developed a small hydro electric plant which supplied electricity to Eugenia and Flesherton (approx. 5 miles to the south). The plant contained two turbine units generating approx. 40 horsepower driving a single generator. By 1915, a much larger plant, located a short distance away and rated for 4,500 horsepower was constructed and within a short time with several upgrades by engineer H. G. Acres, was supplying elctricity to Collingwood, Owen Sound to the north and Mount Forest and Grand Valley to the south.
This hydro electric station was officially opened on November 18, 1915 by Sir Adam Beck who was the Hydro-Electric Power Commission's first Chairman. Most notably, the Eugenia station has the highest head of all hydraulic stations.
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Hello again expolorers,
Not really an Urb-Ex post today exploring a dusty abandonment but rather a summary of a trip to Mono Centre to explore the park and surrounding environs. Don't fret, we still have images to share where we've stuck our cameras into dusty abandonments, but that will have to wait until another day.
Back to Mono - just a short drive away from Orangeville was initially settled in the 1820’s. This rural community located in Dufferine county not only has history to it but breath-taking natural beauty curtesy of features of the Niagara escarpment. The post office serving Mono Cliffs was established on July 6, 1851 (closed in 1971) and the first postmaster was William Large. It is thought that Mono originates from the aboriginal name Mahnoo meaning "let it be so".
Mono Cliffs, adjacement to this hamlet is a jewel. This provincial park contains a significant section of the Niagara Escarpment, including crevice caves, an upland limestone plain, and talus slopes. The park features two prominent masses of rock, separated by erosion from the main rock body. When this occurs, the resultant feature is called an outlier. Botanists have noted that the local vegetation includes a particularly rich diversity of ferns.
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Hello again explorers,
With the recent warm weather just ahead of the official start of spring, we headed out to revisit a nearby favourite abandonment of ours around the corner. This old farmhouse has not been occupied for some time but the property is still productive, being used by one or more adjacent farm owners.
Not much had changed. Nature is still working on reducing the structure to rubble and leveling it to grade.
During the summer time, the flooded basement is a favourite haunt of every disease-carrying mosquito, but as the temperature still dips below zero at night and does not really thaw out the frozen block of water in the basement, it is a wondrous suspended animation that we had not really been able to capture appropriately with our cameras.
Personally, I am always amazed when I find muted colours on kitchen cabinetry, wallpaper, and furniture.
I guess I assume that after so much time untouched by human maintenance, all the colours would simply bleed out leaving what I imagine would be a dog's eye interpretation of the colour spectrum.
Anywhoos - we're looking forward to the warmer season to get in a decent amount of time of urban exploration. Look to several more posts over the course of this summer - until next time, Happy & Safe Exploring.
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Hello again explorers,
Today we have another post regarding local Barrie history and the slow but certain changing streetscape of downtown. In a previous post of 'Then and Now', we took a bief look at the downtown property located at 46 Dunlop street formerly occupied by The Roxy Theatre.
Built for John Sasos, a local fruit vendor, the Roxy Theatre opened in 1931 and featured the latest technology of synchronized sound dialogue, also known as "talking pictures," or "talkies." The Roxy was a one-screen movie theater and had room for over 700 people to see a film or a live show. The elaborate enframements above the tall narrow windows suggest an Italianate style.
Sasos leased the theatre to Famous Players in 1968, and then to Stinson Theatres in 1977. The Theatre eventually closed and was re-opened as the Roxx Nightclub in 1989.
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Fast forward to today and this announcement from the owner former Barrie Mayor Rob Hamilton on the closure of The Roxx.
On Saturday, February 19th, management announced that the ROXX Nightclub would be closing it's doors. For more than two decades, the ROXX has been an integeral part of downtown Barrie and a staple of the area's nightlife. The long standing presence in the industry is rare and the management team is proud of the history of this nightclub. Despite the perseverance through the past 23 years, it's now time for a change and the ROXX is officially closing. The future plans for the establisment are still unfolding and we are unable to speculate about it's future at this time. We would like to thank all of our past and present staff and patrons for 23 years of memories. Please come out and join us for one last bash on Saturday, February 25th!
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Here is the MLS® Listing (# 1108032) posted for sale of the property which is currently listed for a sale price of $2,500,000.
General Description :
BUSINESS MUST BE PURCHASED W/BUILDINGS (SEE MLS#1108028). 17,000 SQ FT ON ALMOST .5 ACRE. 2 BUILDINGS W/8 TENANTS OCCUPYING THE SPACE. THE ROXX NITE CLUB IS THEANCHOR TENANT, CURRENTLY OPERATED/OWNED BY THE BUILDING OWNER.THE ROXX IS BARRIE'S BIGGEST CLUB, CONSISTING OF 7,000 SQ FT PLUS 2,500 SQ FT FOR ALL AGES, KNOWNAS "THE ROXX WEST". THESE BUILDINGS ARE SITUATED IN THE CORE OF BARRIE'S ENTERTAINMENT & SHOPPING.
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We deeply hope that our personal local hero, developer Mark Porter whose interest in buildings of local historical importantance or another such buyer with an interest in preservation may be able to secure the property and be able to evolve a viable business while saving the structure.
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