HomeMy WebLinkAboutHomecoming '87, 1987-07-01, Page 32PAGE A-32. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, JULY 1, 1987.
_ _Homecoming '87_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___
Brussels once had many fine hotels
Cited as “one of the finest buildings we have ever seen in a place of corresponding size” by the Belden
Atlas of 1879, the once-splendid Queen’s Hotel in Brussels was demolished in 1986 to make way for the
E.M.A. Food Store.
With the re-opening of the
Brussels Inn (which was known for
a time before its closure last year as
the Brussels Tavern) Brussels will
end the first time in its history that
it did not have an active hotel in the
village.
Like most area municipalities,
Remember that ice cream?
While there have been a number
of gains in the village of Brussels
since the last homecoming for
Centennial in 1972, there have also
been some losses, one of the
largest of which was the closing of
Cousin’s Creamery, a landmark in
the village for many years.
In 1939 Roy Cousins came to
Brussels to take over the creamery
and egg-grading business in the
village. He’dbeen involved in a
similar family business in Aurora
before that.
In the early years the family
continued to produce butter and
bottle and deliver milk in the local
area and sell ice cream produced
back in the family business in
Aurora. In 1956 the Cousins
figured they were selling enough
ice cream locally that they might as
well be producing it themselves.
The ice cream was sold in an area
from Seaforth to Goderich to
Listowel and Palmerston.
Atthe height of the business,
John Cousins recalls, about 10
people worked at the company,
Brussels abounded in hotels in the
early years. The 1879 Beldon and
Company Historical Atlas lists five
hotels among the assets of the
young village.
Singled outfor special praise
was the Queen’s Hotel. ‘‘The
Queen’s Hotel is one of the finest
including office staff.
In 1968 thecompany came toa
crossroads. Roy Cousins was
looking toward retirement and
family members agreed they
didn’t want to carry on. The
company was sold to a group of
three outsiders.
A manager was brought in from
Thunder Bay. The company quit
bottling milk and kept the ice
cream and butter part of the
operation. In 1969 John Cousins
took over as the manager of the
plant and continued to manage it
until the company was closed
complete in May 1973.
Several members of the Cousins
family continued to reside in
Brussels. JohnlivesinBrussels
and works in the LCBO store in
Wingham; George is custodian of
the Brussel Public School; Eliza
beth, Mrs. Ivan Campbell lives in
town and her husband, who was
also involved in the company, sells
real estate. Father Roy remarried
and moved to Newmarket. Lawrie
lives in London.
buildings we have ever seen in a
place of corresponding size. The
main facade shows a chief front,
and two projecting wings, the
interval being filled with a hand
some piazza of equal length with
the main building which is three
stories and basement; the centre
being topped by a lofty and highly
ornamental rectangular tower,
surmountedby acupoloa whose
top is protected by a handsome iron
railing, the architecture of the
rectangle being broken at intervals
by gablets and dormers which add
to the general effect, making it as a
whole one of the finest commercial
buildings anywhere to be found.”
Old pictures of the building
prove that the extravagant praise
of the Atlas writer was not
misplaced. Sadly, by the time the
building was demolished in the
spring of 1986, the glory was long
gone. The brick had been painted
white andthepaintwas flaking.
The hotel had been unused for
years and had been badly vandaliz-
ed. The original balconies were
gone, along with the cupola. One
wing had been covered with
clapboard.
The village of Brussels picked up
the property at a tax sale and,
concerned with the safety of people
in the area, sought a buyer to
redevelop the main street location.
In March, 1986 demolition be
gan to make room for a new EMA
supermarket that occupies the
corner today. Total Demolition of
Brussels had the contract for
removing the building and bricks
and other materials salvaged from
the building will be recycled into
other building projects. One piece
of the old hotel remains alive,
however. The front of the old
sample room, an, ornate storefront
that later housed Maggie Rut
ledge’s restaurant, was saved and
taken to the Huron County Pioneer
Museum in Goderich where it will
become part of the exciting
streetscape in the new museum
addition now beihg built.
Cur^ratulatiurs
Brussels
€>n mii tcmecemlr^
Celetialicns
Let me congratulate all past and present residents of this fine
Village for reaching your 115th Birthday. It has been my
pleasure to have served you in the past and I look forward to
continuing to work on your behalf in the future.
THEHONOURABLE
Murray Elston
M.P.P. Huron-Bruce
Minister of Health
Brussels
Variety 887-6224
and
Brussels Village
Market 887-9226
Tumberry St. , Brussels
Dear Friends in
the Village
of Brussels
When Brussels celebrated its
centennial in 1972, the second
hotel in the village was then called
the New American Hotel, the
‘‘new” coming sometime in the
1920’s. The hotel was later
renamed the Brussels Inn and
remained open long after the
Queen’s closed. For a time it
seemed it would meet the same
fate as the Queen’s because once it
was closed vandals quickly attack
ed and started the rapid decline.
However the good news is that the
hotel will soon be open again under
the new owner June Warwick.
I
r-------w<mid ukeu> eytend a ivarm \
' • f thanks to all our customers I
\greetmg of thank
and friends at this special IWe’re proud to be a part of this 1
I growing community.&DEBBIESEili ]
We’re One of Ontario’s largest Westeel Dealers
HURON FEEDING SYSTEMS«fs Come out & visit our new Plant
One block east of McDonald Bulldali
at the North end of Brussels
Look for The Red Steel Building
BRUSSELS 887-6289