More Wallaceburg decay

[flar]

More shots of Wallaceburg, one of Ontario's most devastated towns.

The Glass Factory, demolished around 2000. Photo credit: Spencer Thorton, courtesy of the Wallaceburg & District Museum

 

[Long Island Mike]

Another side of Wallaceburg,Ontario...

Flar: Good Wallaceburg pics again-as you mentioned WBG is definitely rough around the edges a bit but some of those neighborhoods pictured look so quiet-even those pics in the town center. That C&O now CSX ry. swing bridge also looks interesting. LI MIKE

 

[smuncky]

thx for these photos. i didn't see the other thread and it was quite interesting going through it and reading about what had happened.

i really like places that are abandoned or almost abandoned. it gives a sort of mystery as to what was there before. thx again.

 

[Zephyr]

... i really like places that are abandoned or almost abandoned. it gives a sort of mystery as to what was there before.

Hmmmm ...

Oh well, I guess this is less mystery to me, and more of the standard depression that comes from viewing this type of 'decay'. The saving grace is both the interesting perspective brought by photography, and that kind of de facto musing that happens under associative imagery.

If I really do want to get depressed via photography, however, I take out my trusty book Tulsa, which collects a series of images that never fail to take me into oblivion.

 

[CDL.TO]

Wow. Terrible. I had no idea. Thanks for posting these.

 

[junctionist]

Those are definitely sad sights of economic depression.

Here's the link to the other thread with Wallaceburg photos.

 

[Bogtrotter]

There's something nostalgic about small towns and cities in decline, I guess it's something a lot of people grew up with. I can imagine myself as a kid playing ballhockey on some of those empty streets. It looks like it was once quite a nice place, and areas around the water still look very pleasant.

 

[flar]

Population from the Census:
2006: 10,703
2001: 11,114
1996: 11,772
1991: 11,846

(not too much population loss)


Job losses:

Name, Employees (1990), Current Status

Waltec, 652, all three plants closed or closing
Eaton Yale, 603, became Oxford Automotive and then closed
North American Plastics, 515, closed
Libbey St. Clair Glass, 427, closed
Benn Iron Foundary, 419, still operating as WABCO
St. Clair Tool & Die, 400, two factories closed, but HQ still in Wallaceburg
Accurcast, 323, still operating
Nestle Foods, 234, closed
H.E. Vannatter Tool & Die, 135, unknown
Solus Tool & Die, 130, unknown
Hillerich & Bradsby, 100, still operating
Venture Industries, 100, closed
Aar-Kel Moulds, 73, closing
Five Star Tool & Die, 52, unknown
Mylar 2 Moulds, 52, still operating
Active Burgess, 50, closing
Many other smaller tool & die shops

This equals more than 3000 jobs lost since 1990!



A recent article from a local newspaper (which is more optimistic than I am):

2007: The year Wallaceburg began to turn around

David Gough
Courier Press staff
Wednesday December 26, 2007

It may not have been a singular moment or story, but the rebirth of Wallaceburg is the Courier Press’s top story of 2007.
After years of factory closings, house foreclosures, falling real estate prices and environmental disasters, Wallaceburg has risen up, shaken the dust off and is now ready become a town on the move again, to borrow a tired cliché.
The year 2007 was a good one for Wallaceburg.
Among the positive signs:
• The creation of a distance-learning centre where students can access college and university courses online.
• The McNaughton Ave. power centre now includes a Wal-Mart and a number of big box retailers.
• The Wallaceburg Community Task Force took flight under Stu McFadden with the mandate to address the transition of Wallaceburg’s economy.
• Real estate prices on the rise locally due to buyer demand.
• A new Shell refinery located 10 minutes north of Wallaceburg remains a possibility.
• New, young owners downtown, with new stores, ideas and enthusiasm.
• The Homeward Realty Star Search at the CBD Club brought out hundreds.
• The Central Ambulance Dispatch centre for Chatham-Kent and Lambton County still in Wallaceburg in a new building being built behind Sydenham District Hospital.
• A year after Young America call centre closed, Help Desk Now moved into Young America’s old facility.
• Wallaceburg’s Sycamore Woods was preserved. The 11-acre Carolinian forest is the only one of its kind locally.
• Changes at SDH, including 20 new continuing care beds.
•Wallaceburg Lakers rebound after four horrible seasons, make the playoffs and lead the league in attendance.
• Wallaceburg’s Shaun Suisham settles in with the Washington Redskins and is having a great year on the field. Off-the-field Suisham helped by bringing a huge one-day football camp for youth to Wallaceburg. He also led by example, fundraising on his own to make improvements to the Wallaceburg District Secondary School athletic field. A booster club is also raising funds to make the Tartan athletic program top notch.
“I believe it’s been a great year,†said Stuart McFadden, project manager of the Wallaceburg Community Task Force. “More than anything I thing there is a glimmer of hope in people’s eyes. I think more than anything they get a feeling that tomorrow is going to be better.â€
The community wants change and they’re playing a part in it, McFadden said.
Highlights are already planned for 2008. Wallaceburg’s biggest party, WAMBO, will be turn 20 and organizers planning a bigger event.
“I think 2008 is going to be an incredible year,†McFadden said. “ . . . There are some good things coming around the corner for Wallaceburg.â€
Homeward Realty owner Betty Tack said things are looking up. “I think there is a new excitement,†Tack said. “Everything has turned positive this year.â€
Housing prices, stagnant for many years, have risen, Tack said. “It’s phenomenal. It’s like day and night to what we anticipated. Houses are selling quickly.â€
After Shell announced its intention to look into building a refinery north of Wallaceburg hits to her real estate website spiked.
There have been no saviours. There were no moments when Wallaceburg had a huge announcement, but there were hundreds of small victories as the town rebounded and the New Wallaceburg finishes off Year One.

http://www.wallaceburgcourierpress.com/

 

[Edward Skira]

Other than a possible new refinery there's little in that article that really shows things turning around.

 

[flar]

^^no doubt, some people in Wallaceburg actually think getting a Walmart is a good thing. So much for the couple of independent retailers left there.

 

[RedRocket191]

^^no doubt, some people in Wallaceburg actually think getting a Walmart is a good thing. So much for the couple of independent retailers left there.

I think that speaks volumes about how depressed the town is.

 

[David C.]

It's not that good

Hi I live in Wallaceburg and I disagree with the artical 100% I used to work at one of the plants mentioned in the list of closed factories. I for one was one of the lucky ones that found a job after it closed but i am only making Close to Min. wage and trust me it is not livable. Many of my coworkers have yet to find a job. I was ashamed but for the 2nd. year in a row we had to go to the Sally Ann just to make it through Christmas and we have to visit them several times a year. Wallaceburg has little or no public transportation so finding a better paying job out side the Community is neigh impossible if you don't own a vehicle.Wallaceburg has become a community where your ether on welfare or your one of the lucky ones and have a vehicle and a job outside of town and barely get by. Repo notices are a common site on the doors of many homes. I can point the finger and blame many people or things for the way it is here but i won't. Except to say this when you look at Wallaceburg the only good thing left in it is the people we will stick together despite the fact we are in tough times many of us will do what we can to help each other despite the odds against us. getting help from the outside is going to be next to impossible we will pull together and help one another but it will take all of us.

 

[JasonParis]

Thanks for your thoughts! And welcome to UT!

 

[habsfan]

Wallaceburg has had its share of problems but half the buildings that are pictured have been torn down with another turned into a nice eating establishment. There have been many things done to improve the overall look and despite the ecomony still on the downside i think that says alot for the town
thanks

 

[simply Dan]

Living in booming downtown Toronto it is easy to forget about the many depressed and blighted towns, cities and regions across Ontario. Some areas prosper while others continue to suffer.