If you no longer live in Woodstock, you can also read about the changes in the city
By
Mark Schadenberg
Facebook
is obviously a great way to wish a friend a Happy Birthday, or pass along a
greeting if someone you know is preparing for surgery, and certainly a great
way to follow local happenings and news.
Social
media allows you to have a conversation with an old school friend, keep track
of activities at your child’s school, chuckle at the political views of some
‘friends’, and it also offers a destination to cost-effectively advertise your
business (See: Mark Schadenberg -- Royal LePage Triland), but it also
represents a great method to learn about a city’s history.
The
‘Group’ You Know You Grew Up In Woodstock posts on its title page that there
are more than 5,000 members, and that’s terrific for a city with a population
of 41,000. I’m sure many on this site no longer reside in Woodstock, so it’s a
great vehicle to follow what is happening in your hometown.
Varied
topics in recent weeks include:
Anniversary
of the Aug. 7, 1979 Woodstock tornado.
What
arrived when and where and first to the city – Consumers Distributing or
Shop-Rite catalogue stores.
What
were the most popular hotels or bars of the past?
Were
swimming lesson at the original YMCA in the nude?
A
poster of railway times between Woodstock, Beachville, Creditville and
Ingersoll.
Recollections
of an era when horse and buggy would deliver milk to your house.
A
terrific series of photos of significant Woodstock buildings including the
courthouse, current city hall, and library.
Collectible
plates have always been a keepsake, including one of the city’s town hall,
which is now the museum.
A
picture of a post card of a home owned by a former mayor, and another depicting
Southside Park.
You
can quickly see how times pass by looking at a promotional brochure produced by
City Hall.
You
may also recall the fact Morley Safer began his journalism career at The
Sentinel-Review.
Naturally,
lots of school memories include Southside, Oliver Stephens, Huron Park, WCI,
Princess and Victoria. Today, Princess school is a doctor’s offices ranging
from physio to eye glasses to a surgeon.
Morley Safer
FAITHWAY
NEAR FINKLE
Most
intriguing, however, is the lengthy list of comments about a house at the
corner of Athlone and Finkle. It would seem just about all the home’s recent
owners (and their friends) have posted something on the page. Lots of memories
certainly, and many commenting on the sad fact that the house was recently
demolished to make room for condo townhouses at the site – 42 priced in the
range of $325,000 each.
In
my opinion – as a Realtor – the house’s fate became determined after the folks
at Faithway Baptist Church bought the previous Legion on Brant Street as their
previous place of worship ‘home’ had a lot which literally wrapped around the
unique house, and the church utilized the home as its office. I realize it
would have been possible to simple re-purpose the church lands and sever the
house from the overall acreage and let it remain.
I
do recall that MLS listings were quite vague in that they advertised the
properties as 2 lots, but strongly suggested that they were to be sold as one
parcel.
I
will not note the selling price here as most who look at those numbers forget quickly
how much it costs to remove old buildings, design a new project, conduct at
least a Phase One environmental study, change the zoning, add additional
municipal services, gain approval on a site plan from the city, and then have a
developer / builder construct their project.
If
you think there’s too many residential units planned per acre there, keep in
mind it’s the province’s desire to focus on ‘intensification’ which is key
here. Compromise and common sense will eventually create a suitable number of
townhouses to be built.
For
another example of this intensification idea, read the link below about the
scenario of a proposed townhouse complex in Guelph.
On
Devonshire Avenue in Woodstock the former Good Shepherd church sold a few weeks
ago, so soon Facebook folks will be commenting on plans for that destination.
LINKS:
www.facebook.com
www.facebook.com
FACEBOOK
See
Also:
Woodstock
Newsgroup
Woodstock
News And Views
Blandford
Square mall Memories
Ingersoll
Unplugged
GUELPH
MERCURY:
Mark Schadenberg, Sales
Representative
Senior Real Estate Specialist
(SRES designation)
Royal LePage Triland Realty
Independently Owned & Operated, Brokerage
757 Dundas St, Woodstock
(519) 537-1553, cell or text
Email: mschadenberg@rogers.com
Twitter: markroyallepage
Facebook: Mark Schadenberg, Royal LePage Triland
Discussion . . . Direction . . . Determination . . .
Destination
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