Today, we’re beginning a weekly news series delving into the history of Timmins.
Every Monday – along with Timmins Museum curator-director Karen Bachmann – we will recount stories about what went into making the city what it is today.
We start with Timmins Square and how it came to be built on Riverside Drive at Shirley Street.
(Bob McIntyre, MyTimminsNowDotCom staff)
Karen tells us that in the late 1960s, several studies said the area needed shopping malls.
“The 101 Mall was built at Pine and Algonquin and there was a whole big discussion about another, larger mall coming to the community,” she says.
At the same time, there was talk of amalgamation, prompting a big fight about where to locate that larger mall.
“There was a lot of to’ing and fro’ing and one of the sites selected was right on Gillies Lake so it would be centralized,” Karen tells My Timmins Now Dot Com. “So I believe it’s the site that is now occupied by Dailey’s Independent Groceries.”
“I have no idea why the change was made, but it was finally decided to open the Square where it is located now, and that was on nice farmland out in Mountjoy.”