Allandale Train Station

A series of three buildings following the curve of the original Kempenfelt Bay shoreline, the Allandale train station was constructed circa 1905 by the Grand Trunk Railway. The tower has been removed as well as the beautiful clay tiles to be replaced with shingles. Currently abandoned, this site is awaiting redevelopment or possible renovation into a public-use building.

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Brief Time Line (almost accurate)
1853 - Ontario, Simcoe & Huron Union Railway (OS&HUR) builds first station
1894 GTR builds refreshment building/third station. GTR builds refreshment building, which is partially used as waiting room, ticket office and, as space becomes shorter, additional administrative offices. A separate one-storey building provided.
1903 - 1930 - Various improvements.
1974 - Canadian National Railway becomes passenger service operator.
1978 - VIA Rail becomes passenger service operator.
1980 - Station closed but still offers passenger pick-up.
1982 - Passenger rail service terminated.
1990 - Passenger rail service restarted.
1993 - Passenger rail service terminated again due to insufficient ridership.
1996 - CNR lifts rails between Allandale and Longford.
1999 - Allandale Community Development Corporation (ACDC !), a corporation of the the City of Barrie purchases Station and lands from CN Railway.
2000 - CHUM purchases Station and property for new broadcast station.
2004 - CHUM conducts environmental site assessment, historical / archealogical assessment, and some restoration
2006 - The City of Barrie purchases the Station and lands.

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THEN & NOW

Since at least 2006, local municipal, provincial and federal politicians have been pushing to have the passenger service restored. Yesterday (September 11th), Mayor Dave Aspden announced at Council that the agreements between the City, Government of Canada, Province of Ontario and GO Transit was finalised for the resumption of passenger rail service to Barrie.

A new Station, to be named Barrie South, is currently under construction at St. Paul's (Yonge Street and Mapleview Drive East) as well as a GO car layover site, located just east of the old Allandale Station.

It is estimated that in 2004, more than 30,000 people made the daily trip south, mostly along the congested Highway 400 to the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). With rising gas prices, it is believed that more commuters would be willing to take the GO Train.

One of the issues why this mode was so unpopular in 1993 was that only one departure and return was offered. Commuters had to board at Allandale around 5:45 AM and did not return until almost 6:55 PM which made for one helluva long day and a short marriage.

The schedule is tentatively set for Barrie departures of 5:45 a.m., 6:15 a.m., 6:45 a.m., and 7:15 a.m., with arrivals in Toronto ending at 8:45 a.m. Trains would leave Toronto at 4:10 p.m., 4:40 p.m., 5:17 p.m., and 6 p.m. arriving in Barrie at 5:45 p.m., 6:15 p.m., 6:55 p.m. and 7:35 p.m.

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This brings us back to what is to become of the Allandale Train Station.

EDIT -
I have been requested by David Bell, representing Forecast Inc. and developer Mark Porter to remove negative opinions / comments that were posted here . . . my apologies - I was not in a proper state of mind when I initially posted here and most likely under the influence. My criticism of the redevelopment was inappropriate and hurtful to those companies, organisations and to municipal council. Again my apologies, I will attempt to be more open-minded in the future.

Allandale YMCA

The former Crazy Fox on 268 Bradford Street, Barrie, Ontario in 2004
The Crazy Fox Restaurant & Bistro is a popular Five-Star restaurant that used to operate at this location near Barrie's waterfront in the 1980's. This is a beautiful building with an cornice butting into a mansard-roofed tower.


The building as it was circa 1910 operating as the Allandale Railroad YMCA.
Of course, it was not always a Bistro. The building served initially as the Allandale YMCA, built and administered by local citizens.



Latter, after the YMCA moved out, it is rumoured that it served as a 'gentleman's club' of some ill repute with ladies of 'easy leisure' entertaining patrons. The last occupant, the Crazy Fox restaurant, moved out to it's new location on Bayfield Street in 2000 and building has since been abandoned. But not for much longer . . .

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First a little bit of building history.

A postcard of the YMCA circa 1900. Note the 50 foot water tower adjacent to the building. The railway had a deal to supply fuel and water to the YMCA.

Recognizing an opportunity to serve the railway workers of the Grand Trunk (Canadian National Railways after 1918), the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA)began to support railroad workers in the late 1800's. The YMCA offered alternative pastimes such as reading and bible studies to railway workers who otherwise were limited to visiting saloons during their leisure hours.

The nearby Allandale train station, shown here, was a comfortable 60 second walk for the rail workers to accommodations at the YMCA.
By 1900 six railway associations had sprung up and by 1910, eight out of 15 had their own buildings, while others operated out of rooms provided by the railway. In 1920, there were a total of 19 railway associations with 15 facilities known as "Railroad YMCAs".

By the 1950's, the need for men working the lines dissipated as did the need for overnight accommodations for the rail workers, and the YMCA eventually closed its doors. A very small branch office of the Toronto-Dominion Bank also operated out of this building with the entrance on the building's north corner. The building's use after this time is a bit of a mystery until the Crazy Fox moved in.

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To the right, a very poorly-stocked bar on the main floor. A soft cushioned bumper on the bar top prevented many a drunken injury and served as a make-shift pillow in a pinch.



A food preparation area with some decent-sized commercial refrigerators. These, unfortunately were not stocked with wine, beer and savories for our thirsty / hungry explorer at the time of investigation.

A very interesting time capsule find on the second floor. A copy of the Toronto Daily Star from Thursday 7, 1961 used as a shelf-liner. An advertisement for Sayvette claims to "have wide aisles and wider smiles". One may procure a 23" console TV for a very-reasonable $ 219.93

To the left, a snapshot of the stairs accessing the 'tower'. The stairs, designed for persons with feet less than 6" in length, were difficult to reconnoiter.

The abandoned Allandale lawn-bowling club green is visible through the window.

Here, we see stark evidence of Ozzy Osbourne's hauntings to this building.

I had a very close encounter with this bird's very-alive friend in the tower's room.

Given the closed quarters, shallow stairs, and unwieldy camera tripod, I'm quite glad not to have taken the 'easy way' down the stairs.

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Current events

After a few short years of neglect, the building was purchased in late 2004 for approximately $750,000. The new owner is Mr. Mark Porter, a construction company owner from the Toronto area. Mr Porter has a history of purchasing and restoring Ontario buildings with heritage interest. His adept work crews are currently busy restoring and renovating the building which may open again as a restaurant in the near future.

I think Barrie needed visionaries like Mr. Porter when city council were tearing down such beautiful buildings like the old Post Office, Fire Hall and old City Hall.

Barrie Jail

Here is a picture I took in 2004 showing the impressive front entrance.

The Barrie Jail was a maximum security correctional facility providing short term, secure custody for persons awaiting trial or sentencing, those being held for immigration hearings or deportation, those serving short sentences (under 90 days) and those awaiting transfer to other Ontario correctional institutions or to federal institutions.


The Barrie Jail was oringally designed to accommodate 32 men. Two subsequent additions have increased the numbers up to 82 men. More recently, before its closure, a typical day it would witness an accommodation close to 100 men, plus women. In the old part of the jail there was no light in the cells and no toilet facilities; they have to use a pail under the cot.

A more recent photo I took in February, 2007. Work crews had demolished the temporary holding addition the previous year.

Construction began in 1840 to serve Barrie and area as a goal. Improvements ordered after inspection of the provincial board of Prison inspectors in 1860 - Observation tower also torn down at this time. Jailers residence built 1902. The Province of Ontario took over operations in 1968.

The facility transferred its last prisoners to the massive Central North Correctional Centre in Penetanguishene, and shut its doors in the fall of 2001.

Thomas Young (c.1810-1860) of Toronto designed three Radial gaols between 1839-41. The Goderich (Huron District Jail) gaol is maintained as a wonderful museum, and the Guelph goal was demolished in 1911. The Barrie gaol, like its historic Allandale train station, stands abandoned and in ill repair.

The image to the right was taken sometime in the early 1900's (most likely from the now demolished fire hall tower), we can clearly see the Barrie Jail sharing the skyline with St. Mary’s Roman Catholic church. This church was built in 1872 and demolished in 1968.

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A side note about Barrie's dark history:

On the evening of 10 June, 1926, Barrie residents were shaken by the sound of a large explosion. Residents looked out their window to determine the cause. Without finding any, all retired and it was not until the next morning, was it determined. A stick of dynamite had been placed against a brick wall of the church and a four-foot square hole blasted through it. William Skelly, a 30-year-old shoemaker and Ku Klux Klan member, was arrested in Toronto soon after the explosion.

The Ku Klux Klan was active in Ontario from 1923-27. The Klan organised a major gathering on a hill just outside of Barrie on the night of 23 May 1926. The rally had originally been scheduled for a city park but when public officials realised it was a Klan gathering, permission was canceled and the venue shifted. A crowd estimated at 2,000 (a large number drawn from across the province) watched as the ritual cross was burned.

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Simcoe County Court-House and Gaol
Location: Up on the hill on Mulcaster Street across from McDonald Street downtown Barrie.

Text from the Plaque:
In 1837 the Simcoe District was established and authority was given for erecting a district court-house and gaol at Barrie. The gaol was begun in 1840, the court-house a year later, and both were completed in 1842. An important county judicial and administrative center, the court-house was enlarged in 1877 and demolished in 1976. The gaol, designed by Thomas Young of Toronto and constructed of Lake Couchiching limestone by Charles Thompson, a builder and steamboat owner, is one of the few in Ontario based on the nineteenth century radial design concept. In 1862 the east wing and outer walls were constructed, and the present roof and lantern replaced a portion of the originally castellated central section. The gaoler's residence was added in 1902.

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I have borrowed the following brief article which summarises very well the social attitudes and reformation of penal incarceration.


Another photo I took in 2005 showing the unique tower-like roof structure.

Thomas Young’s Barrie Gaol - by Dr. Tony Hopkins

The three gaols share a basically octagonal design – the only ones in Ontario ever to have such an eight-sided footprint. They share also a massiveness of architectural conception and construction, all being built mainly of locally quarried stone blocks typically two feet thick. Like castles and cathedrals, they were built to last.

The side door of the jail, taken in 2005 showing the heavy steel construction.

Thomas Young brought with him from England experience of penal structures which had grown from ideas generated from John Howard’s investigations into English and Welsh prisons. In particular, Young brought the dominant model for English gaol/prison architecture in the early nineteenth century – the Radial Prison.

A recent 2007 photo I took showing a hallway on the north side of the building's interior.

Radial prisons/gaols typically feature an octagonal core housing administrative offices and guards’ quarters, wings of cells projecting from two or more sides of the octagon, several separate exercise yards, and a high surrounding wall. These arrangements are intended to maximize centralized control and observation of distinct and segregated categories of prisoners: men, women, felons, debtors.

Another 2007 photo I took showing the hall leading to the kitchens.

They are also intended to promote, through providing a controlled, peaceful, regulated environment, the moral reform of the inmates. The gaols, and their associated courthouses, testify to important aspects of civil society in Upper Canada.

A day use area. Source: Simcoe County Historical Association

Crucial is an emphasis on local, manageable municipal districts, the central role of the regular administration of justice and civic government, and, literally, the grandeur and magnificence of public governance, which is to be supported and displayed through majestic public buildings placed in prestigious and prominent locations.

A day use area and cell. Source: Simcoe County Historical Association

The gaol in Barrie – which surely has one of the prime downtown locations in the city – continues as a monument to the civic heritage – and to the forward looking magistrates – of Barrie, Simcoe County, and Upper Canada. It deserves to be able to continue in active use as a significant public building.

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'Coffin Cell'. Source: Simcoe County Historical Association

In 1976, capital punishment was removed from the Canadian Criminal Code. It was replaced with a mandatory life sentence without possibility of parole for 25 years for all first-degree murders. The bill was passed by a free vote in the House of Commons.


In 1998, the Canadian National Defense Act was changed to remove the death penalty and replace it with life imprisonment with no eligibility for parole before 25 years. This brought Canadian military law in line with civil law in Canada.


A 2007 photo I took showing the front entry hall area.

The following 5 persons were hanged at the Barrie Jail:
1873-06-11 – James Carruther – murdered his wife
1873-12-30 – John Tryon (son) – 47 years – murdered Francis Fisher
1929-01-04 – George O’Neil – 47 years – murdered Azor Martin Robertson
1932-01-16 – Thomas Wesley Campbell – 54 years – killed William Campbell (father)
1945-12-20 – Lloyd Wellington Simcoe – 18 years – murdered Freeman Walker