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HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1978-08-31, Page 1I. ai Main street apartment By Frances Barrick The former Jervis 'apartment building on Albert Street has been placarded as unfit for human habitation by the Huron County Health Unit. Ed Harrison, chief of public health inspectors said the building was placarded July 28 as the property's "conditions make it impossible for 1111111111111111111 people to live there." However, Mr. Harrison said the building dan be habitable with some changes as required by the health unit. The owner of the building is from Kitchener, but the health unit refused on grounds of confidentiality to release the name or changes requested to be made to the building. Mr. Harrison said the owner has been notified of the required changes that must be made before the building can be rented again. He said an inspection of the premises will be carried out to ensure the health unit conditions are met. "There are conditions that would make it impossible for a person to live or reside there in a healthy at- mosphere," he said. He said three areas the health unit inspects to determine the habitable" conditions of buildings are proper water facilities, proper sanitary facilities and sewage disposal. "We inspect the buildings to ensure people are living there in safe and sanitary conditions," he said. uildin No one has lived In the apartments since the spring. The public health inspector was, accompaned by fire chief Clarence Neilans and police chief Lloyd Westlake during the examination of the building. Chief Westlake said he received a complaint about the building's con- ditions and notified the proper authorities. He said he is pleased with the action taken to date. Chief Neilans said the building is "no more a fire hazard than any other building." He said the public health unit "closed it up because of garbage around it " Mayor Harold Lobb said town council has not been notified about the building. He said perhaps the situation will be brought up at council's next regular meeting Sept. 11. However, Joe Van Dyke Still ondemne operates his aluminum siding business from the front store, which he rents, The R. L. Jervis apartments and store is a former hotel, the Mason House, which was built on the site of an earlier hotel, the Prince of Wales. The Prince is believed to have been built after 1858 and before 1863. The hotel was the terminus for the stagecoach to Wingham in 1869. and free omnibus service was provided to the Clinton railway station. Some of the landlords of the Prince were: John Mdoney, up to 1865; Thomas Cooper, 1869; W. M. McCut- cheon, 1871; George Swartz, 1884; John Lee, 1891 to 1894. In 1894, Robert Mason, in possession of the Farmers Hotel, next to the Prince, bought the Prince of•Wales and contracted with Sam Cooper to have a new brick veneer hotel built on the site of the Prince. The new hotel, The Mason House, was opened in July 1894. The Mkson House had a succession of landlords among whom were: Mr. Walper, 1'896; Mr. Dowson, 1898; Reuban Graham, 1900;, Mr. Bran- denburger, 1903; and in 1905 Reuben Graham bought the property and changed the name to the Graham House. It is understood that despite the Prohibition which came in 1913, Mr. Graham continued until after the First World War. The hotel then passed to John Crawford whose son Johnnie became captain of the Boston Bruins. A Mr. Dorsey is thought to have had the hotel after Mr. Crawford and about 1928 it was taken over by A. S. Inkley, being then known as the Clinton Inn. It '.s believed to have ended its career as a hotel about 1935. • Contractor takes floor jo Clarence McDowell of Exeter, awarded the contract to replace the arena" floor in the Clinton Community Centre, signed the proper legal Petty thieves hit A rash of petty thefts occurred over the weekend, according to Clinton police: Chief Lloyd Westlake said six flag's were stolen off the Public Utilities building on , Park Lane sometime between Aug. 25 to 28. The value of the flags is $75. The chief said four bicycles amounting to about $300 in total were stolen on Aug. 28. A gas portable generator from a construction site on Mary Street was stolen sometime between Aug. 27 to 28. And according . to the Goderich provincial police report, a horse was struck in a single car accident on High- .way„8„Aug. 22 in McKillop township. Dona d'tit"t'eejohns', 34, of Ridgetown, was driving 1.8 kilometres west of Hibbert township on number 8 when he struck a horse and caused $1,000 damage to his car. The incident oc- curred at 11:55 p.m. Mr. Littlejohns received no injuries and the condition of the horse is not known. documents Friday August 25, and construction is expected to begin this week. Confusion had surrounded the project when last week McDowell in a letter written to Clinton's engineering firm of James F. MacLaren Ltd. of London said he wants to withdraw his $160,963 bid, as it didn't include items specified in the tender. However, town council agreed the contractor had until August 25 to sign the contract or lose his $15,000 deposit ,submitted with his tender, as it was McDowell's fault if he misunderstood the project specifications. Project engineer Bill Knowles had recommended town council to let McDowell out of the contract, as he didn't include the price of the hot and cold brine system and would lose about $40,000 on the project. The engineers had estimated that the job would cost a total of $176,690 which included replacing the arena floor with a nett, insulated„ ,lOox,,.a;n.d,a hot'' brine system to prevent the itiA train going down again and causing the floor to heave badly. ' Also in the contract was a new drainage system for the floor, modification to the west end lobby, construction of a new tractor room at the north end of the arena and replacement of the protective screens Daily to blitz town The Kitchener -Waterloo Record, a daily newspaper published out of Kitchener, Ontario, 60 miles east of Clinton, is challenging the other three daily papers in the area for newspaper ” subscriptions. Householders in Clinton and Goderich will be asked if they want the afternoon paper free for the next two weeks , in a home delivery attempt to gain new readers in this part of Ontario A similar free distribution plan was tried in the Seaforth=Brussels area earlier this summer." • As well, the Record" has hired a correspondent, Frances Barrick of Goderich, who will be covering .news first column One never realizes how dependent a person can become on a drug of some kind, until you try to shake it. No, I'm not an alcoholic or a dope fiend, just a perpetual smoker who was partially hooked on the weed. It's been nearly a month, however, since I've had a smoke, and it's only been just recently that I'm getting over the unconscious urge to grap at my shirt pocket and light up a butt. I will admit, that most of the time I enjoyed smoking very much, but whether it was because of the nicotine, or just having something in my hand to ease nervous tefision, I'm not too sure. I dropped the habit four weeks ago, because of a severe respiratory problen9, after 20 straight years of smoking. That's two decades of 15 cigarettes a day. Works out to about 5,475 butts a year for a total ' of 109,500 in the last two decades. Cost wise, at an average of two cents per cigaret, I *lied out $109 per year, or roughly burned-' up $2,190 worth since my first smoke out behind the shed as a pre -teen. I must point out, however, I'm not preaching. I enjoyed smoking and probably still would if I took it up again: I think that it is an enjoyable pttSth e ' tor many, and in fact 04, Wally eitSeS the stress` to ' t1i iir maybe even prolonging their 10 NoI 11 r , ne v0 ba one of those 00. and feature events in this part of the country, including county council,.... and a host of municipal councils. After the two-week distribution, which began this week, readers who like the paper will have to have it delivered, but pay for it in" advance at $4 a month. Steve Oliver, a spokesman for the paper working out of their Stratford office, is looking for carriers, and can be reached at 2944246. The area is c rently served by the London Free Press, which has most of the daily trade, the Toronto Star, the Toronto Globe and Mail, and two highly successful and well-read weeklies, the Clinton News -Record and the Goderich Signal -Star. by jim fitzgerald at the ends of the boards with tempered glass. The recreation committee accepted the McDowell bid August' 3. It was the lowest of three other bids which in- cluded John Hayman and Sons of London at $202,648 and "Kelly -Lyn Construction of London at $199,860. Town council awarded the contract August 14, and McDowell accepted it August 25. As of Tuesday night, con- struction in the arena had not begun, though test holes were to be .drilled Wednesday. The project will be financed with a $40,250 provincial Community Centres Act grant: while Wintario will provide another $40,000 grant. The remainder will be raised with private donations, but if the arena fund raising should run into problems, the town could provide a maximum of $40,000 in tax money. Building closed The Huron County Health Unit has closed a seven -unit apartment building on Albert Street in Clinton because it is unfit for human habitation. The former Jervis apartment building has been posted with a sign (inset, bottom right) °tar h€iiti Driving north along concession 15 and 16 of Goderich Township the old Stone school quickly catches the eye. According to the cornerstone set into the building, the old school was con- structed in 1873. Yet despite its age, the old school has been modernized by Harry and Isabel Mitchell and made into their home. The couple who have lived there since 1971 have maintained the school's original structure and have furnished the inside with antiques and old decor but the building has actually been modernized more than any other old or new home. Looking at the south side of the old school's roof, there appears to be a skylight, but after a conversatidn with the Mitchells and on closer inspection it becomes clear that the structure on_the roof is a solar collector. and no one will be allowed in the building until conditions are cleaned up. The building, over 80 years old, hasn't been occupied since this spring, and just who actually owns it is still up in the air. (News -Record photos) making impact The collector is used for Mr. Mit- chell's solar water heating, which he constructed by himself at a cost of $250. Although it has only been in operation for a few months the water heating system does work and .can be used all winter long by putting an- tifreeze in the system to keep it flowing. The collector itself is made from a four foot by six foot storm window, a copper plate and a few inches of in- sulation. The collector converts the sun's rays into heat. The heat in turn is used to warm water from the well which is stored in a pre -heat tank in the basement. When the water reaches a certain temperature it is automatically transferred into a regular Cascade 40 heater. So, rather than taking water out of smoking freaks who go into hysterical fits when they see someone light up. + ++ Unless you don't own a calendar, then you won't have to be reminded that summer is unofficially over on Monday night. Oh, the actual solace isn't until September 21, but every kid knows that come Tuesday when the school bell rings for the first time since June, she had it. No more sleeping in, bumming around the town, or bare -footing it: ,this is it! Labor day marks the end to what seems to be a short summer, and as is usual with holidays, nearly everything will be closed on Mon- ° day. There will be no postal service of any kind until Monday afternoon when the Street letter boxes will be emptied. +. + + The News -Record was the proud recipient of a prize at the recent convention of the Canadian Com- munity Newspaper Association, held out in^Vancouver. The local "rag" received a third place award for best Women and feature content in the under 3;999 'circulation, bracket, and we were' also .warded a, Blueibbon for ac"bleVing a hark of 80 per cent of the. �oyeraYl wiiiner, General Manager Y. Howard Aitken was do .hand in B.C. to pick up the awe els, Ila Ciudmo`relett'` 'e . � , It et s help from fellow ^ x�fbltor Florence Pullen t�o carry all her winning, hardware .and flowers 'home Inter the annual' flower show last Friday, 11rirS.. Cudmore wan four major tat*..including top exhibitor of the she*, ( t w1 iteCtird photo) y the well at 50 degrees Fahrenheit, the water comes from the collector at. 90 degrees, taking less energy and hydro to heat. "I save four Kilowatts a day or 22 cents a day which adds up to $75 a year," Mr. Mitchell explained, "It may not sound like much but just think how it would be if everyone did this." "The more people get interested, the cheaper things will get," he explained. "People are now getting ripped off, this is all a binge: Here's an article called Peddling the Sun. People think that you have to have a sophisticated system and the kits you buy cost anywhere from $800 to $1,800." However, as Mr. Mitchell has shown through his water heating system, solar constructions don't have to be expensive. There are many books and magazines on the market illustrating and discussing solar systems and special courses are now offered. "Buying books and magazines on this is almost like a drug habit with me," Mr. Mitchell said. "I'm retired and have extra time to do this," explained the former air force man. However, he said that the solar heating system will take little main- tenance. "I try to do one project a year. In the spring I'll start on a solar greenhouse but I want to read everything and learn all the pros and cons," Mr. Mitchell went on. An organic gardener for the past 12 years, Mr. Mitchell is looking forward to his proposed greenhouse. "We never have to buy vegetables and we have enough in our garden to last until April," he explained. Along with the regular vegetables, the Mitchells also grow soybeans. They said that they turn out in the freezer like baby lima beans. The solar greenhouse will be about 12 feet by 16 feet and will be attached to the south wall of the old stone school. The absorbing wall will be built on a 63 - degree -angle to get the maximum heat infiltration. Turn to page 3 • Flowers prove attractive Although the variable weather of this summer took its toll in some flowers, both the number of participants and entries were up this year at the 'Clinton Horticultural Society's annual flower show held last Friday. This year 33 adults put in 266 entries, compared to 28 and 254, respectively, last year. Mrs. Ila Cudmore was the top winner of the day, taking home the Clinton Horticultural Society award for collecting the rhost points, the Simp- son -Sears award for the best arrangement in the show, the Grace, Middleton award, and the Jean McEwan award for the best asters. Mrs. Marion Powell took home the Clinton News -Record award for the second highest number of points, while Charles Cook won the Baker's Farm and Garden Centre award for third place, and Mrs. Jean Currie won the Ar1stett award for finishing fourth. Mrs. Janet McClinchy won the R. Feist cash award for the first time exhibitor with the most points, while Bram Endenberg won the Bev Williscraft award for the best gladiolus in the show. Charles Cook won the Mrs. Evelyn Olde award for the best dahlia in the show, and Stewart Middleton won the Cudmore prize in the men's only section. Entries in the children's classes were up when 20 kids showed 120 exhibits, compared to 20 and 68 Last year. Laura i,ee Johnston was tops in the elementary class, and Brad James wag first in the Junior Gardener class, and each took home Bank of Montreal cash awards. Lori Brandon was second in the elementary, and ' David Pullen in the Junior Gardeners, and each won, cash awards from Mrs. Marian McCann, Finishing third and taking home cash awards from Margaret Sloman was Shawn McClinchey and Julie Johnston in the elementary class, and Michael Pullen in the Junior Gardener class. Kerrigan Fuels awards for junior gardeners went to Gwen Holland, Michael and David Pullen, Julie and Christine Baker, and Henrietta Sneider, while David Pullen had the smallest tiny tim tomato and won the Mrs. Fred Sloman award, , while Matthew Kerrigan won the special Mary Jamieson award. r 1 Weather 1978 HI l0 AUGUST C C 22 26 8.5 23 30 14 24 24 17.5 25 20 13 26 24 9 27 23.5 15 28 28 18 Rain 9.36 mm 1977 N1 LO F F 68 54 66 52 65 45 68 40 77 49 88 60 89 72 Rain .57 in. ;A�