In our Timmins history feature, we continue our look at iconic structures around the city, with museum director-curator Karen Bachmann.
“The overpass, the underpass or subway, whichever way you want to call it, whichever era you come from,” she says.
The rail overpass on Algonquin at Spruce is slated to come down soon, as part of connecting link reconstruction.
Bachmann says it was built in 1911, in advance of trains coming into town the following year.
“We have to think about the changing landscape from that area,” she cautions. “There was, on the other side of that, I would say where the Bon Air (Motel) is now, where the Hollinger Park is certainly, that was a lake.”
Bachmann says it was necessary to bring trains to a station where Downtown Timmins was intended to be.
Noah Timmins used his Hollinger Mine clout to convince the Temiskaming and Northern Ontario Railway that the train a station was needed. Bachmann says he then built the Goldfields Hotel, where Scotiabank now stands.
“It is an important piece to our history,” Bachmann remarks. “It’s been around for over 100 years, but obviously, it’s now a part of our history we’ll remember and now we move on to something else.”
Next week: The overpass – or underpass, if you prefer – wasn’t always the concrete structure you see today.