Buildings & Structures Archives | Page 4 of 6 | Sweat Equity – The Grimsby Homebuilding Co-operative 1953

Earth and mud everywhere

As some houses neared completion, the families began to move in. It must have been a challenge for Moms and Dads to keep their children safe and clear […]

Stuck in the mud

It was noted that a man who became stuck in the mud had to walk out of his boots and carry on “with one bare foot.”

Wilf Worley wrote a song for John Colleary

Sixty years later, John Blake would sing the song at a “Co-op at 60” information event hosted by the Grimsby Archives. It speaks to the fun-loving guy that […]

Shingling in the Lakedale Co-op

Some jobs were simply backbreaking and others required skill. Sometimes work could be dangerous. Supervisors and inspectors were on hand, but men who had never done construction found […]

Shingling alone or together

Harold works on the roof of a 2-story building illustrating the challenges and dangers facing the builders. Fortunately there were contractors who over saw the day-to-day workings of […]

Materials and Men

The management of materials and men fell to the hired supervisors, Rod and Ward Sexsmith and Roy and Denton Wilson, as well as to the co-op team leaders. […]

North end homes, with the Niagara Escarpment to the south

Within view of both the Niagara Escarpment and Lake Ontario, this beautifully situated neighbourhood was aptly named Lakemount Terrace Subdivision. As houses passed inspection, the CMHC would release […]

Lakemount Terrace Subdivision Plan

Sherbrien and Cathedral Heights co-ops were the first to build, with the Lakedale co-op starting soon after. Once they became incorporated, they needed building permits. These weren’t so […]

Main Street Grimsby 1950’s, facing west

More than half the co-op families did not own a car, so it took coordination for 81 men to carpool between Hamilton and Grimsby. Some also worked two […]

Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW) facing east, 1947

The QEW, built in the late 1930s and upgraded in the late 1940s, had sped up travel from Hamilton to Grimsby, but it was still a 25-minute commute. […]

Aerial View of Grimsby 1956

Finding a site on which to build was a challenge. After looking for months, the sites committee heard a rumour about land in Grimsby. The 14-acre lot on […]

CMHC Small House Designs

There were five CMHC plans used in all three co-ops (Sherbrien, Cathedral Heights and Lakedale). Families would choose the plan they liked and could afford. Co-op builders worked […]