MINDEMOYA—When Dr. Robert Davis set up practice in Mindemoya in 1919 he decided to build one of the most impressive buildings on Manitoulin. Following being purchased by the community in 1934, that building would go on to become known as the Mindemoya Red Cross Hospital where it continued to serve the Island for many years. The current Mindemoya site of the Manitoulin Health Centre saw a new hospital built in 1972, leaving its progenitor to go on under many new guises. In 1985 the Mindemoya hospital was amalgamated with the hospital in Little Current.
Although remaining in good shape, in recent years the building was largely only used for storage. The current owners admit that they found being residential landlords was not their particular cup of tea—so they decided to go the commercial route.
“We know there is a big demand for housing,” admitted Melissa Nicholson, who, along with husband Daniel, are the latest owners of the historic building, “but there is also a big need for commercial space as well.” A real estate agent, the building houses Ms. Nicholson’s Century 21 real estate agency.
“When it was originally built by Dr. Davis it would have been one of the largest and most impressive buildings on Manitoulin,” said Ms. Nicholson.
So a new roof, courtesy of the efforts of Manitowaning’s TerraStar and Rob Maguire, was added and following a few more internal renovations, the couple’s Century 21 offices were opened in the building.
“We wanted to keep as much of the building as possible in its original configuration,” noted Ms. Nicholson, but some things had to be changed. “One of the prior owners had removed the original flooring and put in shag carpeting. We got rid of that early on and replaced it with hardwood flooring more in keeping with what would have been there originally.”
The building has been divided into three commercial units, A, B and C, noted the owner. While things are still a bit up in the air as to what will be done with the units not needed for the Century 21 offices, a couple of things are certain. “We don’t want long-term residential rentals; that’s not feasible,” said Ms. Nicholson. “Our goal is to draw more commercial businesses to Central Manitoulin.”
In the meantime, one of the most historic and storied buildings on Manitoulin Island will go on to serve in yet another new capacity while preserving some of our Island’s heritage thanks to the ingenuity and hard work of local entrepreneurs.
