Welcome Guest!
In order to take advantage of all the great features that Waterloo Region Connected has to offer, including participating in the lively discussions below, you're going to have to register. The good news is that it'll take less than a minute and you can get started enjoying Waterloo Region's best online community right away.
or Create an Account




Thread Rating:
  • 0 Vote(s) - 0 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
Husky Gas Station - 417 King St North, Waterloo (Closed)
#16
(02-03-2015, 07:18 AM)Drake Wrote: Weber St and Lodge (Across from Benny's Restaurant) also looks to have been a gas station lot at one time and now sits only to grow tumbleweeds in the summer.

Yeah that was a Pioneer gas station and car wash.
Reply


#17
(02-03-2015, 07:18 AM)Drake Wrote: Weber St and Lodge (Across from Benny's Restaurant) also looks to have been a gas station lot at one time and now sits only to grow tumbleweeds in the summer.

Yes, I remember a gas station being there a long time ago.
Reply
#18
(02-03-2015, 07:21 AM)Drake Wrote: And as I have had second thoughts about this thread, I am now wondering: as we transition to electric cars are we going to see our future cities dotted with these former gas stations? Will future cities allow these sites to be abandoned seemingly forever?

I could foresee a situation where a charging station is put in on top of an existing gas station without disturbing the subsoil.  Alternately, a gas station might install a charging station and slowly transition the others.  Long-term, I expect that the oil/energy companies will have a significant stake in electric charging anyways.

Long term remediation would probably depend on what the insurance companies say.  Remember knob and tube wiring and asbestos?  Insurance companies are pretty good at convincing property owners to remove it whenever it is discovered.

On the list of properties that have been successfully redeveloped, I believe the current HSBC building at King/William in Waterloo was a service station many years ago.
Reply
#19
(02-03-2015, 03:37 PM)nms Wrote: On the list of properties that have been successfully redeveloped, I believe the current HSBC building at King/William in Waterloo was a service station many years ago.

That was a dinner as far back as  I remember which is a couple of decades or more. 
Reply
#20
(02-03-2015, 03:37 PM)nms Wrote: I could foresee a situation where a charging station is put in on top of an existing gas station without disturbing the subsoil.  Alternately, a gas station might install a charging station and slowly transition the others.  Long-term, I expect that the oil/energy companies will have a significant stake in electric charging anyways.
Even the fastest charging option for a Tesla currently takes something like an hour. I doubt people are going to wait that long at ex-gas stations. 

Slower 110VAC or 240VAC based chargers take several hours to recharge a Tesla's batteries. So I'd expect electric cars to be recharged primarily at home or in parking lots rather than at purpose built charging stations where gas stations now stand. 

Of course if some new super-duper extra-rapid charging technology comes along then all bets are off.
Reply
#21
They'd be battery swapping stations more than likely. At least that's how I'd design the things to work.
Reply
#22
(02-03-2015, 04:47 PM)BuildingScout Wrote:
(02-03-2015, 03:37 PM)nms Wrote: On the list of properties that have been successfully redeveloped, I believe the current HSBC building at King/William in Waterloo was a service station many years ago.

That was a dinner as far back as  I remember which is a couple of decades or more. 

I stand corrected, according to this 1929 Waterloo Fire Map, Dietrich's Garage was further north on King, somewhere under the LCBO/Channer's building.  The Alexander House Hotel was at the corner of King and William.  The Guelph Mercury also did a piece on that stretch of King Street in 2011, but I digress.

By 1942 according to this fire insurance map, the Alexander House Hotel had disappeared to be replaced by an Esso station though the hotel garage survived (listed as "Alexander Garage" on the map).  From the looks of the service station footprint, the building must have survived until Quizno's moved out and the HSBC building replaced it.

You can see both the Texaco and Esso service stations in this 1960 photo, taken from the Waterloo Public Library collection, looking north from William and King.:

[Image: WatPL29979f.jpg]
Reply


#23
I appreciate the information you gathered in your reply NMS. Those old maps are very interesting to look at. I learned Regina Street was once named Queen prior to it's Latinizing.
_____________________________________
I used to be the mayor of sim city. I know what I am talking about.
Reply
#24
A Petro Canada gas station at Strasburg/Ottawa that closed down last year is currently undergoing excavation.
Reply
#25
(02-13-2015, 12:02 AM)Drake Wrote: I appreciate the information you gathered in your reply NMS. Those old maps are very interesting to look at. I learned Regina Street was once named Queen prior to it's Latinizing.

I believe at some point early in the 20th century, Kitchener (Berlin?) and Waterloo renamed some streets so there wouldn't be identical street names in the two cities.
Reply
#26
The three cities of Cambridge did the same thing; Queenston Road in Preston used to be Queen Street, but that's the name of the main drag in Hespeler.
Reply
#27
(02-13-2015, 01:28 AM)mpd618 Wrote:
(02-13-2015, 12:02 AM)Drake Wrote: I appreciate the information you gathered in your reply NMS. Those old maps are very interesting to look at. I learned Regina Street was once named Queen prior to it's Latinizing.

I believe at some point early in the 20th century, Kitchener (Berlin?) and Waterloo renamed some streets so there wouldn't be identical street names in the two cities.

(02-13-2015, 11:07 AM)DHLawrence Wrote: The three cities of Cambridge did the same thing; Queenston Road in Preston used to be Queen Street, but that's the name of the main drag in Hespeler.

The wholesale street renaming may have happened later.  I thought it was closer to the mid-1960s.  However, it may have happened in a piecemeal fashion throughout the 20th Century. There are still some orphan streets including Fountain Street (Waterloo and Cambridge) and Young Street (Waterloo and Kitchener)


If anyone wants to play with ArcGIS, the University of Waterloo Map library has created digital versions of the 1955 historical County street maps.
Reply
#28
There s one large batch of name changes in Kitchener in 1951, particularly in neighbourhoods close to the Waterloo boundary (I know this from neighbourhood historians because I lived on one such street). At least in Kitchener, there were other batches and one-off changes much later than that, I think.
Reply


#29
Elmira was told by the region to change King Street to Memorial Ave, and Water Street to Wyatt within the lastt 10-15 years. The reason they gave for the changes was to avoid confusion for 911 operators. However, I'll bet a substantial amount that anyone who called 911 from either of those streets certainly made it clear they were calling from Elmira.
Reply
#30
(02-13-2015, 06:02 PM)Elmira Guy Wrote: However, I'll bet a substantial amount that anyone who called 911 from either of those streets certainly made it clear they were calling from Elmira.

Which doesn't guarantee that it is passed on to the ambulance operator. A friend of mine died in one such instance in amalgamated Quebec. The ambulance was called when symptoms of a heart attack first appeared. The ambulance was dispatched to the wrong street in a different former township, in spite of the relatives indicating very clearly where they were calling from.

By the time the ambulance arrived, 25 minutes later than it should have, my friend had passed away.
Reply
« Next Oldest | Next Newest »



Forum Jump:


Users browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)

About Waterloo Region Connected

Launched in August 2014, Waterloo Region Connected is an online community that brings together all the things that make Waterloo Region great. Waterloo Region Connected provides user-driven content fueled by a lively discussion forum covering topics like urban development, transportation projects, heritage issues, businesses and other issues of interest to those in Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge and the four Townships - North Dumfries, Wellesley, Wilmot, and Woolwich.

              User Links