Renfrew-Collingwood Community News

News stories from the Renfrew-Collingwood community in East Vancouver

Tag Archives: Renfrew-Collingwood history


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Collingwood Corner: Demolition of Vancouver Distribution Centres, formerly McGregor Warehouses, at 3450 Wellington Avenue

BY LORETTA HOUBEN

Loretta Houben and her young son watching the demolishing of the warehouses on Wellington Avenue, 1992. Photo by John Williams

Do you remember a train whistle blowing late at night in the 1960s and 1970s when the freight train would arrive at the back of the large warehouse complex located on Wellington Avenue and Joyce Street? The train used the former interurban tracks from the east. I lived on Monmouth Avenue and the sound would comfort me in the middle of the night.

The warehouse was opened in March 1957 at 3450 Wellington Avenue and owned by Robert K. Arkley. For many years it was McGregor Warehouses Ltd., until it came under new management in 1973 and was changed to Vancouver Distribution Centres Ltd. The owner at the time was George A. Carey, and the general manager was Harvey Allen. The warehouses were a huge facility consisting of 120,000 square feet. Some of the businesses located here were Castrol Oils, Nestle Canada, DuBois Chemicals of Canada and Johnsons Wax.

1992_Warehouses_Looking_N_From_Skytrain
Looking north from behind the warehouses from the SkyTrain tracks, 1992. Photo by John Williams

It was difficult gleaning this information from online newspapers at Newspapers.com. Not much has been written about this complex, which was in the Collingwood neighbourhood from 1957 until 1992, a period of 35 years, when it was demolished to make way for townhomes and condos. The area was rezoned in 1988.

The warehouses were torn down in 1992. The apartments and townhomes were sold from 1992 to 1994, advertised in the Vancouver Sun for as low as $4,000 down payment. Apartments started at $74,500 and townhomes started at $210,000, from VLC Properties. Eventually, the area included Wellington townhomes on Wellington Avenue, with the Avalon and Connaught townhomes behind them. Also included were two high rise towers, the tallest in the neighbourhood at the time: the Regent Court and Queen’s Court.

My dad, John Williams, took the two photos included with this article. I inherited my love of old buildings and documenting neighbourhood changes from him. These are the only two photos I have seen of the warehouses on Wellington.

The one thing I remember about this area is the beautiful green lawn in the front, with picnic tables for the staff. McGreer Street was once an unnamed gravel lane, running along the west side of the property.

Do you have memories or photos of this warehouse complex? Please get in touch with the editor, Paul Reid, if you do, at rccnews-editorial@cnh.bc.ca.


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Local model train shop Central Hobbies for sale as owner retires

Go-to destination for train enthusiasts from all over B.C. and beyond

BY PAUL REID

Kathy and Hal at Central Hobbies are looking forward to retirement. Photo by Paul Reid
Kathy and Hal at Central Hobbies are looking forward to retirement. Photo by Paul Reid

“Every train has a caboose,” quipped a customer, in reference to Hal’s upcoming retirement.

“Now that’s something I’ll miss,” says Hal to me, ”all the little fun remarks just like that.”

Yes, the caboose is here for Central Hobbies (located at 2825 Grandview Highway and Renfrew). Hal will surely miss his long-time customers, and they, him. For the past 35 years, Hal and his Central Hobbies have been the go-to destination for train enthusiasts from all over British Columbia and beyond.

You see, Central Hobbies is like a mecca for train-heads. Take Calvin, who alerted us to the store’s closing in his online post:

“I managed to find some downtime to make the pilgrimage into Vancouver to visit Central Hobbies, which is slated to close in June 2023.

“Where I live, there isn’t a model train-focused hobby shop, so you can imagine dropping me into the midst of a store the size of Central Hobbies would be much like shooting me into space. I spent over two hours browsing the store … I even had to step outside one time to collect myself – the selection was just THAT wild! I felt like a kid again.”

Every now and then a celebrity comes to Central Hobbies - Kathy and Rod Stewart. August 2014 Central Hobbies News
Every now and then a celebrity
comes to the store – Kathy and Rod Stewart. August 2014 Central Hobbies News

So I met with Hal and yes, it’s true. “Body says it’s time,” he tells me. So, this spring, Hal and his gang (Kathy and Bill) will be preparing to wrap things up. For Hal, the owner, this means he has put Central Hobbies up for sale. Know anybody? How about that gent talking to Kathy in this photo here? He might have some cash.

Kathy has been with Hal at Central Hobbies for about 25 years. “When she started, she knew nothing. Now, she runs the store.” Hal and Kathy definitely will retire whether the store sells or not. Bill, well, I hear Hal might throw him in with the deal.

The price? That too you can iron out with Hal, but you might be looking at somewhere around a million dollars, as that is about the value of the current stock. The buyer would also receive the excellent reputation and connections that Hal and the gang have been building all these years.

And the return on investment. Fugget about it. I’ll leave that to you and Hal to discuss, but with sales booming more than ever right across North America, it sounds like the new owner will stand to pull in a fairly pretty penny.

Hal had always loved trains – ever since he was a young boy. So, later on in his life, when the opportunity to buy Gary’s Train Centre (on Broadway) presented itself, Hal jumped at the chance. Actually, he was hesitant at first, but with the encouragement of a friend, Hal went all aboard, bought Gary’s, and soon, Central Hobbies was to be born here in Renfrew-Collingwood.

So that’s the latest news from Central Hobbies. Hal, Kathy, Bill – wishing you all the best! To our readers, keep your ear to the track when it comes to a new owner.


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Solving a 90-year-old family mystery

BY LORETTA HOUBEN

Nellie Grandpa's First Wife Feb 1919

Nellie Williams: mystery woman, 1919. Photo courtesy of Loretta Houben

Growing up I would sometimes hear stories about Nellie, my Grandpa John Williams’ first wife. She had died in 1926 out on the barren Saskatchewan prairies of a broken heart.

An old photo of Nellie taken in 1919 intrigued me. She was young and pretty wearing a large Edwardian style hat, but looked quite sad and mysterious. What was her real name and her maiden name? Where had she come from? How did my grandpa meet her?

I love genealogy, the study of family history. For years these questions had perplexed me, and after solving other family mysteries recently I felt it was time to discover more about Nellie. On the 1921 Canadian census I discovered her real name was Ellen (see the February 2014 RCC News article “1921 Canadian Census Tips”). I searched for a few years for her surname but the fee from Saskatchewan Vital Statistics was too pricey for me to track down her marriage certificate.

However, taking my own advice, I joined the Saskatchewan Genealogy Network on Facebook, and began asking questions about family research in Naicam, Saskatchewan, the place where Nellie had died.

I was advised to join the Naicam Homecoming group. The very day that I asked for help regarding Nellie and her maiden name and how to search further for her marriage certificate, a researcher at the Naicam Museum Facebook messaged me her death certificate! I had never thought to look for a maiden name on that type of certificate, but there it was; her father’s name, Edward Egerton!

Also included was Nellie’s date of birth and birth country, her length of residence in Canada, her address, her husband’s signature, her date of death and her cause of death; croupous pneumonia due to low vitality; in other words, a broken heart. This was because her young son, Edward, had died in 1925.

Now I had facts to help me in my search for further clues to Nellie’s past life, and I quickly found the dates of her voyage to Canada on the ship’s passenger lists online, but this presented another mystery, as she had lived in Toronto for four years, returned home to Wales for a time, then took another sea voyage in 1918 with the destination of Three Hills Alberta, where my grandpa was residing. No one would go to such a tiny town without a purpose, so I believe she was headed there to marry John.

Did they meet back in Wales and keep up a correspondence since 1910, when John had immigrated to Canada? It’s just another mystery to solve. Now on to the next one, and have fun with yours!

Loretta Houben is a long-time resident of the Collingwood area and enjoys poking around on Facebook in her spare time, always on the lookout for new family clues.

Copyright (c) 2016 Renfrew-Collingwood Community News