Clarkson Road butcher shop building demolished!

Another old building that was a part of the history of Clarkson has been relegated to the dust bin of history! The building that most recently housed the Doug Auld & Son Butchers Shop, at 1109 Clarkson Road North, was demolished this week to potentially pave the way for a new development. The proposed development is for five 4-storey back-to-back stacked townhouse buildings comprising 136 units to be built on the site which has been home to the former butcher shop, a former car detailing business, a wellness centre, an outdoor storage unit, a yoga studio, and a bicycle shop.

The Auld Butcher Shop circa 2011 (Google Street View)

Building in 2016 (Google Street View)

As noted in previous posts, this group of buildings, plus the buildings on the northwest side of the railway track and a house on the northeast side of the tracks, are known historically as the original Clarkson Corners. The former Clarkson railway station was located close by. The current yoga studio building was a cold storage unit for preserving produce. The building that was just demolished began its life as the original post office for Clarkson, then a bank, before becoming Auld's Butcher Shop. It has been an integral part of the community for well over 150 years, and it will be missed.

The City of Mississauga and Heritage Mississauga had wanted to preserve some of the buildings on this site and were supposed to be meeting with the developer to discuss possibilities. The developer has already appealed to the OMB because the City is opposed to the development as currently proposed.

We will now never know the possibile outcome of those meetings. It would have been great to have seen the buildings restored as historical reminders of Clarkson's past. The residents of Clarkson are proud of its history and the role the village played in the settlement of Mississauga. This is the first European settlement in the area, and the Clarkson family was instrumental in its formation as a village. Clarkson Corners was definitely its heart. We are fortunate to be home to two fantastic musuem properties -- Benares Historial House on Clarkson Road North, and the Bradley House Museum on Orr Road at Meadowwood Road. This latter property already houses several historical buildings, but there was no indication that the butcher shop would have been added to the site. It is a mute point now. All we have left are photographs and memories, and a sense that there has been a disruption in the time continuum. We will have to wait to seee what the future brings.