Ceremony is Saturday, Oct 28 at 1:30 at Reeves Hall at Cowan Park on Ridgewood Road
By
Mark Schadenberg
Harry
and Louise McIntosh lived at 99 Light Street in Woodstock.
The
McIntosh coal and lumber company was located at 380 Main Street in Woodstock
and it would appear it re-located to Wilson Street sometime in the 1950s.
In
my books, however, the Harry McIntosh I want to know more about is the
businessman who owned the Perry Street Arena until 1947 – a rink which opened
in 1914 and he was among the directors even back then.
Listed
as the original president of the arena in 1914 was Fred Millman, who owned a grocery
store at 407 Dundas.
The
municipal address of the arena was 15 Perry and it was home from 1914 to 1996
of hockey, figure skating, concerts, wrestling, broomball, lacrosse, roller
skating, gymnastics and many other activities until it was demolished on June
19, 1996. By 1999, a 7-plex movie theatre would exist at this location.
Both above photos from Woodstock Museum archives
I’m
not sure on all the reasons why the City of Woodstock would purchase the arena
in 1947, but it is safe to assume that a warm winter day would translate into
no hockey as the building lacked artificial ice. Soft ice would mean no hockey
or skating of any sort as the ice could be damaged and cancel even more on the
winter sports schedule
During
my research of Sentinel-Review microfilm at the Woodstock Public Library I
discovered an article in the Jan 13, 1948 edition which noted that city council
had approved a debenture for $44,500 to install a new floor in the arena and a
new ice making plant.
The grand re-opening was
on Dec 1, 1948. Mayor Donald Thomson was quoted in The Sentinel-Review to say:
“This arena is owned by you, the people and is
to be used by you in the pursuit of healthful recreation.”
“A new duty falling upon this council will be
the administration of the arena . . . but municipal arena administration has
been carried out with marked success in other centres and this council will be
in a position to profit from the lessons to be found in the experience of the
centres.”
Much
has certainly changed in 70 years, but I find it interesting to note that the
arena essentially opened during the First World War and was bought by the City
after the Second World War.
SPORTS
WALL OF FAME
As
you can see, history exists in the McIntosh family of Woodstock, so this is the
year Harry McIntosh is to be inducted in the Woodstock Sports Wall Of fame
posthumously in the Historic category.
The
Woodstock Recreation Advisory Committee needs your assistance. While it would
be great to have even more information about the early days of the Perry Street
Arena, the items we truly seek would be photographs for the interactive
touch-screen display at the community complex.
By
the way, Woodstock first indoor hockey rink was not on Perry Street, but
actually on Canterbury Street between Riddell and Wellington.
If
you had never been inside the Perry Street Arena there were many reasons why
its time was over. The ice surface was 178’ x 80. The NHL ice surface minimum
is 200 x 80, and the community complex main rink is actually Olympic size at
200 x 100. The Perrydome had angled ceilings on the south side because the
walkways were under the seats. The fire escape safety guidelines for many
reasons (number of exits included) capped the arena’s capacity at 1,050. The
Perrydome opened in 1914, whereas Maple Leaf Gardens didn’t open until 1931.
The oldest rink still in use is the Galt Arena in Cambridge which opened in
1922 (The Cambridge Winter Hawks Junior B club calls it home, but this arena
has had many renovations over the years).
INDUCTEES 2017
Also to be inducted this year are Michael Heath, Dawn Brokers, Dr Peter Fowler, Peter Campbell, Peter Ewing, Beth Lochhead, Dan Sutherland, Ross Garner, and a Woodstock Wildcats provincial girls' bantam hockey team of 2009.
Watch for more details on this group.
Also, if you have any information on past inductees, the sports wall of fame is now a kiosk monitor, so the committee has the ability to add more details on past accomplishments such as creating a photo collage, plus pictures of trophies and scanned newspaper clippings.
LINKS:
www.cityofwoodstock.com
www.cityofwoodstock.com
^^^^^
I'm chair of Woodstock Recreation Advisory Committee
and long-time community volunteer
Mark Schadenberg, Sales
Representative
Senior Real Estate Specialist
(SRES designation)
Royal LePage Triland Realty
Independently Owned & Operated, Brokerage
757 Dundas St, Woodstock
No comments:
Post a Comment