WELLAND – The City of Welland Fire Department’s new headquarters, sitting atop the former Atlas Steels land at 400 East Main Street, an eight-acre brownfield site, is a finalist in this year’s Brownie Awards.
Founded in 2001 by the Canadian Urban Institute, the Brownie Awards recognize the innovative efforts of professionals who rehabilitate sites that were once contaminated, under-utilized, and undeveloped by remaking them into productive residential and commercial projects that contribute to the growth of healthy communities across Canada. A finalist in the refocus category, the fire station is recognized for its ability to use alternative lenses to see remediation and redevelopment from different perspectives other than economic and environmental ones.
“We were excited to hear that the fire department’s new headquarters is a finalist for this award,” said Fire Chief Adam Eckhart. “A fire station that allows the City to provide the necessary safety response and services was paired with the effort to design a building that not only remediated a brownfield site but also exceeds the National Energy Code.”
The project began in the concept stages in 2018, and remediation work continued into 2020. Construction and site work was completed in September 2022, achieving a 55 per cent improvement above the National Energy Code on performance with an estimated return on investment of approximately eight years.
The site is also responsible for the retention of stormwater. As a result, water used in firefighter training will recirculate to the pond and be used repeatedly. Additionally, the berm at the rear of the site provides significant environmental benefits, including being seeded with native species to support the local habitat, reducing soil diversion to landfills, and providing a sound barrier.
The City worked with the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority (NPCA) and Niagara College to help naturalize the berm.
Winners of this year’s Brownie Awards will be announced on November 14.
A portion of Denistoun Street from West Main to the river is pictured here showing a row of townhouses. Behind it are slabs of concrete awaiting disposal. Probably, there will be streets planned for this area where similar housing will arise. What a stark contrast to those of us who remember this location that for decades housed a revered educational institution, Welland High and Vocational School.
This location housed the vocational wing that included the commercial and technical departments of the school built in the early 1930’s. The wooden gymnasium was originally found here too. The darkened hallway approaching basement classrooms like B1 and B2 could be reached through here.
The balance of the school facing West Main were the general classrooms where those not interested in a trade or business career attended. With the new addition constructed in the middle 50’s a major change occurred with a new gymnasium, offices and entrance.
The football field lay behind all of this wreckage where the Tigers as part of COSSA won the championship in Peterborough in 1953 and here in 1954. The competitive nature between Notre Dame and Welland High was played out here as well. Our last picture shows a game between these teams with the commercial and technical wings in the background. And along with the days and events not chronicled here will live on with the tens of thousands who graduated from the school.
Next column: When Niagara Street was called North Main Street.
(Terry Hughes is a Wellander who is passionate about heritage, history and model railroading. His opinion column, Heritage Lives, appears on the blog once or twice monthly.)
First Avenue resident Eleanor Clark started this Halloween visual treat in the late 1980s. Eleanor passed in January, 2013, so the tradition is carried on by members of her family. Now the hapless Witch of First Avenue is back, showing up yesterday, outside the Clark residence at First Avenue and Trent Avenue. She’s iconic in these parts. Boo! Or should it be: Ouch!! /Joe Barkovich photos.
Caption: Stumbled on these charmers in the circle at the end of Merritt Street, just outside Chippawa Park, this morning. Made my day! / Joe Barkovich photos.
Went to Chippawa Park this morning to see if the City of Welland’s fine gardeners had started putting the roses to bed for the winter because that’s when I know I should do mine. They haven’t … And the view was beautiful. /Joe Barkovich photo.
A view of the Welland River and it banks with fall colour showing, pictured today at 11:15 a.m. from Woodlawn Bridge. (View From The Bridge is a recurring feature on the blog. /Joe Barkovich photo.)
Fr. Jim Mulligan, centre, celebrating the 2014 Pilgrimage Mass at Notre Dame. The annual pilgrimage will be one of his legacies. /Joe Barkovich file photos.
By Joe Barkovich, Scribbler-at-large
Lasting images can be tangible or intangible. The former can be photographs displayed on desks, or part of a collection in a scrapbook or an archived collection stored in the cloud, for example. The latter are images entrusted to memory for recall as need or circumstances arise at some date in the future.
Many are the lasting images of James Terrance Mulligan, the lanky, learned, Leafs- loving member of the Holy Cross Fathers (CSC) and former pastor of his much-loved Parish Community of St. Kevin. Fr. Jim died Wednesday evening, Oct. 5, aged 80.
Where to begin?
A favourite lasting image is Fr. Jim walking from the vesting room en route to the foyer prior to the start of 8:30 a.m. Mass on Sunday mornings. From a distance, after he had caught a glimpse of us, I could see a leprechaunish smile brighten his visage.
A small audience awaited in a row of chairs lining the windows. We were early birds, arriving as much as an hour before the start of Mass, a ‘hot foyer league’ of half a dozen or so parishioners who met Sunday after Sunday to talk hockey, football, basketball, the parish’s penne and meatballs, Welland, Trump, Trudeau, get it? He loved joining us and he loved joining in the freewheeling conversation, most Sundays. The exception was when the Maple Leafs lost their previous night’s game. Regardless, he so relished these close encounters of the personal kind, and the teasing, the reminiscing, the playful back-and-forth that were part of them.
Now, this is akin to gospel, so you must believe.
Fr. Jim made reference to the importance of foyer encounters in a swan song homily, 10 Takeaways on the Experience of Leaving the Parish Community of St. Kevin, which I saved because of the insights it provided but also for the sake of having a permanent memory. This is #6: “Being present in the Foyer at weekend Masses has always been important for me. It is a welcoming moment, a time to say hello and chat and kibitz with members of the parish. Not so nice though if the Leafs lost the night before! Looking back, the Foyer moments were a great help in getting to know parishioners and learn from them and at times consoling them and offering prayers or setting up appointments to meet with people. I will miss such moments.”
Then there is a lasting image of Fr. Jim chairing meetings of the parish social justice committee. This wasn’t so much a matter of holding court as it was initiating or percolating input and discussion. And speaking from his favourite chair, his world view was unmatched. What perspective, particularly in the global sense, he had to offer us!
We met in the comfortable living room of the rectory and while it had its boundaries, parameters, walls, the subject matter did not. It was borderless. The focus was on poverty and other social issues here in Welland and in the region, but also in the “developing world”, the Global South, the Third World. One other of those 10 Takeaways was in part: “My personal theology is a Vatican II theology with justice and the preferential option for the poor at its very core. Don’t blame me for that! Blame the social teaching of the church and the witness of so many women and men and young people who lived the social gospel and whose Christian lives were founded on Matthew 25, 31-46. (…just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.)
He was a pioneer and innovator, mandating the committee to carry out a study into causes of poverty in Welland and ways the poor are served by the parish (2006). It didn’t end there. Later came social audit forums and other discussions about poverty, not just at the local level but on the global stage, and more. It was obvious that this was a good man with unbounded capacity to give. He fostered a public ethos that favours the common good. He believed in giving back and paying forward. And his Spirit-given gift of conscience tweaking and values shaping is certain to be one of Fr. Jim’s legacies, just as the Notre Dame Pilgrimage, which he founded, is.
One other lasting image for this reflection is a photo that was near and dear to his heart. It was taken in the foyer in December, 2017, not long after his Argos won the Grey Cup. It was the morning the storied Grey Cup came to St. Kevin’s, brought by Chris Van Zeyl, a Fonthill boy, who played on the Argos offensive line and whose mom, Betty, attended Mass at the parish. Fr. Jim dressed up for the occasion, wearing his Argos toque and scarf. What a proud moment, on that morning at least, for the fashion statement, fashion conscious fan! There had to be a longing in his heart: If only the Maple Leafs could do the same with the Stanley Cup! If only!
I want to close with a comment from Fr. Jim’s brother, Murray. Murray had taken on the responsibility of notifying family and friends about Fr. Jim’s condition through emails after his many visits to him. I asked for permission, Murray gladly gave it. It was the first of two notes he sent on the evening of Oct. 5.
Here is the excerpt: “Just home from The Shaver…. spent an hour or so with Jim. I put The Summit (the last episode of the 1972 Canada vs Russia) series on the TV. I hope Jim was able to somehow take some of it in … he loves his hockey and this no doubt was his second favourite after his beloved Leafs.
Brotherly love at its finest, its most poignant I would say. Murray will have that lasting image with him forever.
God bless Fr. Jim Mulligan CSC! May the Christ he claimed in this life embrace him forever in the next.
Fr. Jim with then-Toronto Argo Chris Van Zeyl enjoying a hands-on experience with the Grey Cup in St. Kevin Church foyer.
(Lasting Image is a recurring feature on the blog. Some others in the series: Ivy Riddell, She Loved Having Us Over, May 30, 2022; Alirio Rodriguez, He Spent His Life Serving The Lord, May 25, 2021; Caesar Hajdu, Never One To Miss A Game, October 21, 2020; Fred Turner, Forever A First-Class Guy, March 29, 2020; Gerry Berkhout, He Shone His Light On Others, January 4, 2019; Frank Sernak, A Great Voice For Radio, December 8, 2018; Ivan Zecchini, His Countenance Glowed From Wide-Eyed Appreciation, July 18, 2018; Keith Hornibrook, Opening Doors to Addictions Recovery In Dignity, July 11, 2018; Augusto Macoritto, Gifted Lensman August 21, 2018; Steve Krar, Neighbourhood Nostalgia Buff, Visionary Leader, July 11, 2018; Mother Alba Puglia, Tireless Trailblazer, June 18, 2018; Michael Santone, A Barber Of King Street, January 23, 2018; Jimmy Roberto, You Could Find Him In The ‘Republic Of Roberto’, September 11, 2012; Marjorie Hannah, July23, 2015; Rosie Smith, June 26, 2014; Bob Fralick, May 7, 2014; Tyler Crooks, local boy, Canadian hero, March 13, 2014; Frank Addario, February 24, 2014.)
WELLAND – The City of Welland is working with the developer of the soon-to-be-demolished former Best Value Inn on Niagara Street (municipally known as 1030 Niagara Street) to relocate a prominent mural depicting the historical images of a horse pulling a sailing ship through the canal in the mid-1800s.
The Towpaths mural. Its plight was drawn to the public’s attention by Aldo Parrotta, himself a local artist and organizer of the Bell Box murals project in the city. /Supplied photo.
Made aware of the impending destruction of the mural, City staff have reached out to the developer to explore the potential of safely removing the art. Once determined, city staff would then store the mural until a new location is chosen.
“Our city is rich in history and culture, and preserving both is important as we move forward,” said Rob Axiak, director of community services. “We will look at potential locations and bring recommendations to the arts and culture advisory committee and heritage committee for their support and advice.”
The Welland Mural project began in 1986 and depicts Welland’s industrial and marine history, including the Welland Fair, steam engines, tugboats, and historic downtown, to name a few. Murals are found throughout the downtown area and the city’s north end.
“We are looking forward to working with the developer to find a suitable outcome for this particular piece of art,” said Axiak. “This is one of those instances when the city, community, and our development partners can work together to produce a positive result.”
Along with the mural project, canoe art and sculptures by Rod Dowling, Welland is home to many great art pieces. You can learn more at discover.welland.ca/attractions/art.asp.
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