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' 1 , WATEHLUU CHRONICII - Wednesday. November [9, 2014 0 3 A); RiSillg from the ashes I O I O 0 City plans to turn empty lot, Site ofa filmlture factory destroyed by fire, into publw space MIAMI-s JACKSON , Chmntclefilaff ". _ . - ‘ ‘ ‘ us ’ I > ' $1 hile the future of the vacant lot across the road $ “ . _ ‘ 1‘5 j I Whom the St. Louis Catholic School remains a mys- â€" - . ' . 9 _ ' _ , tery. its past is a little clearer thanks to the efforts . ‘ . ' i ' i ' if I". ’ f ' " ofalocal historian. 3 ‘ y . _ ' ,4 r ‘a g s15 . . I; I At the turn of the last century. the property at the corner 1"! ’9 . ' - V. * '4 7' of Willow and Allen Streets in the Mary Allen neighbour ‘ V ~ ‘ ‘ ‘ ' ~ . hood ofWaterloo was home to a bustling furniture factory ‘ r’ ‘ " L . _. ' that fell victim to a streak of had luck and was eventually v ‘ ' ' f demolished after two serious fires lti lust two years ‘_ ' ' . a \ccording to the research oi Karl Kressler, a resident of . g ‘t ) the area since It)“; construt tioii on the furniture factory ‘v ' 0' began in early NIH by lttiil St hietliolt/ and [its partners, ‘ . and finished later that year ' ' [he two»store\‘ tactory nus made oi brick and wood and had about too ll't‘! oi irontage along both Allen and Willow \tti‘i-l \ou [ls haul to imagine a big [acuity in the middle oi this neighbourhood ‘said lsressler iii an interyieu with the t hionit le last neck [rained as a geologist, Kressler is now the lot al tttordittatot iii [)oors ()pen Waterloo, which [my ‘ s ’4, . ‘ \ides tours oi lotal liistorital or architecturally important m“ H" l" "‘ "” “ "I“ mm" “M M“ ‘l ”1”“ {mm m" This photo shows the destruction of the E0. Weber Furniture Factory at the comer olellow and Allen Streets in Waterloo, "min.“ 1‘” y y Y _ Oct. 24, 1930, after a second fire in just two years razed much of the building tome ground. Workers escaped. but the m an" I" m ”l“ ””3 Waterloo ('hmm‘l‘” [elegraph damage was estimated at $200,000. The city recently purchased the empty lot with the goal of turning it into a public park, described the l mil schierholt/ and (‘ompany upholstering business as ha\ trig "outgrown their premises" on [:rb Street ”VD'WY‘“ M ”Twain" “WW near King Street, and the company wanted the town's help basement and spread quickly through an elevator shaft. " [hey were typically brick with wooden frames and slip to establish a new manulacturing plant iti Waterloo but the building was evacuated before anyone was in|ured ports." Kressler said. 'They often bumed." The company received the site for free from the city, as Local media reports suggest the Harries shot limit-er [he lot was sold to the Schmidt Furniture Company but well as a lany‘ear exemption from property taxes and an into the air. and thousands ofpeople gathered to watch the factory was never rebuilt. By [942. the land had been interest-free loan oi $5000 to get Once again, the company 's ( hristmas stock was sold to the Catholic school board and remained in their started, In return the iotnpany agreed to operate for ten destroyed and at least 40 people were put out ofwork. possession until about two years ago. when the city put years and employ at least ll) workers ., , (based the lot and the former St, Louis school in “an it [he ( ottipatiy didn‘t last long, though as a fire broke out .2... eon for $503.” in [907 and \( hierholt/ [[[il\(‘(l his business to New Ham 2‘ [he (Hy wanted to connect the lot With the ailtoining " liiirg [he tat llit\ y\as pun hast-d by Fheti and int “t‘lll'f 1,; Mary Allen park htit the school hoard would only sell the and their l.tlllt‘[ [outs my ‘ land ifthe city also bought the empty. aging school as well [he plant her atm- known as the i It Weber liirtiiturt- :3. [he city is now developing a million dollar plan to redr- lat toty and l hen went on to operate other furniture [at to {'3_. . 4' whip the lot It ioiild tost (is nlllt h as $le.()()i) to tt'nttiyt' ties in Preston and Kilt better and he ysas hea\|l\ itiyolyeii ,f; .s _ " “ tontaniinated soil , nun li oi it ash front the fat tory fire in the ileyt-loptnent oi the \\t‘\lttltllltt[ neighbourhood and ”4 ‘ , ' ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ "‘ and another $410,000 for redeyeloptnent and totistrui tiott tht-\\‘estmount Moll anilt ountry ( luh said lsressler Weber estimated the financial loss at $200,000 and his [he request wtll be part of the 201‘: budget whit it is l ire om 1- again broke out at the lat tory and near the UV”) personal loss at around $40,001) tentatively scheduled for approval on [eh W201} end iii a Ninetnhct workday iti I‘IHH a fire and explosion in kressler saltl the two iires and the onset oi the (.reat Messier knows what he'd like to see on the site the finishing room killed oneempitn‘ee, lohti \littht‘ll Depression proved too large to overt time lly laundry "Id loye open space" he said noting the Mary \lleii [he destruttiori oi the company‘s ( hristtnas sale stotk Weber aritioutit ed the sale of his other furniture [at ton iti l’ark already has a climbing strut lute and a haskethall led to a fittatii It’ll loss olahoiit $03,000 Preston and his t areer iti the furniture itidiistry was met totirt ”(.rnss where you can run with it dog. throw a hall or lost two years later on (lit Jrl l‘l it! another fire torn [in tory fires likewere at tlially llllllt‘ tointnon, ktesslet toss a l rishee pit-Ii-h spelled the end oi the [at tot\ [he fire started iii the said due to the building methods iii the day "Sometimes. less is tnore' . . . . Conestoga is now accepting applications for: , t i y. , i ( V . . TUITION-FREE Pre-Apprenticeship Programs 4 interested (andidates must attend an information session all sessttms wtll include details on but» programs Registration is not ti-(iittted‘ All information sessaons will begin promptly at 4 OOptr Waterloo ~ 4:00 pm, room 103 Roofing Contro November 2% Der ember 9 January 6 and lantmty it Guelph ~ 0:00 pm, room (6, November )7 Der ember 1 ii January 8 and lanuar‘, [S for who" Who plow cont-(t Kristo» u: v H9885 0100 ext $484 Jill/Merlot): m MOS" 9190 out SAM :(uMor elm-ti kqoetzmonestoqar on (a