McKinnon Industries, further known now as the old General Motors Plant 1. This large property creates an industrial feel as you drive or walk by with its large brick buildings and tall smokestacks. This property is located on the corner of Ontario Street and Carlton Street in St. Catharines. In 1878, McKinnon Industries began. Lachlan Ebenezer McKinnon and fellow partner A.L. Mitchell opened their first hardware store in St. Catharines, on St. Paul Street. As the small hardware store began to grow throughout the Niagara Region, Ebenezer McKinnon decided that it would be a good investment to move his operations to banks of the 12-Mile Creek on Ontario Street. This new property would allow McKinnon Industries to grow and create new products for their growing business. This property is 54.7 acres, with its increased size this allowed for the business to expand over the next several decades. In 1929, General Motors of Canada bought McKinnon Industries and made this location one of their new plants that assembled engines for several cars that General Motors carried in their product line. In the 80 years that General Motors had ownership of the property it changed a lot; buildings were added to create space for production and green space turned into parking lots for storage containers. The entire property is paved with asphalt or concrete from pre-existing buildings. With this property being so close to the 12-Mile Creek this created a space that allowed for water runoff. General Motors became the biggest employer of the Niagara Region. The surrounding neighbourhoods began to grow with people wanting to build homes close to the plant. In recent years the property has been for sale and is under advisement to become a residential development property.
Municipality: City of St. Catharines
Local area name: Shipman
Other identifying names or descriptions: Old General Motors Plant 1
Latitude and longitude: 43.16595,-79.26199000000001
Physical Dimensions
Length: 400 meters
Width: 500 meters
Surface Area: 54.7 acres
Elevation:
Highest: 110 meters
Lowest: 90 meters
McKinnon Industries/General Motors, a backbone of the Niagara Region. Many families living in this community remember their mothers and fathers or grandparents working at General Motors as it was one of the biggest employers of the Niagara Region. Looking at this landscape now it might be hard to image the amount of product that was produced and moved out of these side streets and driveways. Now this landscape is a disappointment to the City of St. Catharines and many living in surrounding neighbourhoods. Rubble, garbage and empty buildings are all that remain of a once very powerful and well thought of area of St. Catharines. As you read through this Local Landscape report I have defined and described just how much this landscape has changed within the century that it has been an industrial area. Descriptions of its ecological and physical features, geomorphology, hydrology and climate and microclimate. As well as its historical and cultural features along with how the landscape is connected to those around it.
Biota:
Due to the industrialization of my chosen landscape, over the last 100 years since the property has been owned and ran by both McKinnon Industries and General Motors of Canada, the surrounding biota environment has changed drastically. In the early 20th century there was native plants and animals to the Niagara Region that are no longer living in the area. Many of them have moved north to find more food and feasible land to live without disruption. Common plant species to the Niagara Region in the early 1900s were many different species of trees and plants. Many of these species were found within Carolinian and Boreal Forests. Trees and plants found within Carolinian and Boreal Forests are Sugar Maple, Oak, White Ash, Walnut and Grey Dogwood to name a few. Looking into plant history throughout the Niagara Region over the last few centuries there were many rare species of trees and plants found. Scientists working in the area of the Niagara Region, specifically in the areas where water is present such as Niagara Falls and Niagara-on-the-lake. Rare and endangered species of both plants and animals used to and currently exist throughout the Niagara Region. In the year of 1806 or 1807 Francis Andre Michaux was researching the area of Niagara Falls when he came along a tree by the name of a Cucumber Tree (Magnolia Acuminata). In the year 1823, David Douglas another scientist interested in species of trees and plants in the Niagara Region preformed a study on rare trees found within the Region. Species he discovered within the area were "Pink Milkwort (Polygala Incarnata), Starry Campion (Silene Stellata), Toothed Tick-trefoil (Desmodium Cuspidatum) and Woodland Stonecrop (Sedum Ternatum)" (Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority, 2009) Although the area that I choose for my landscape is no longer a wooded area or has many of these species habituating on chosen land, they were present on this piece of land at one point in time before becoming an industrial property.
When investigating the area of for animal species living in the Niagara Region, there wasn't much to be found. Due to the nature of the landscape being concrete and pavement the chances of animal species developing a habitat is low. In the early 1900s when this landscape started becoming established there were likely animals living in this area that were unfortunately pushed out due to the changing landscape. Animals common to this area in the Niagara Region are Racoons, Red Foxes, Squirrels, Rabbits and Deer. These animals are still common today, but not in this landscape. There was however a mammal species that did establish a habitat after the landscape was changed once again. When buildings of the old General Motors where left vacant, mice and rats had made their homes within them. When these buildings were demolished nearly 5 years later the City of St. Catharines and surrounding neighbourhoods experienced a rat infestation. Because of the development of the landscape in the early 1900s many animals of the surrounding area were forced to leave because they were no longer to hunt or sustain life. This continues to happen today as the landscape it forever changing only those that are tough enough to withstand the changes survive.
See changes in vegetation in the air photos below.
Geomorphology:
When looking at the McKinnon Industries/General Motors property today, you are looking at a pre-existing industrial property with many visually disrupting areas. Today, there is not many physical features that are appealing to the eye or appealing enough for tourists to visit. Looking from street view at this property you are looking at brick, pavement and rubble. All the things we see on this landscape today was related to past human-induced changes. Walking along the sidewalks that outline this landscape it is easy enough to see through the fence into the prior General Motors plant. When looking onto the landscape it has clearly been altered in many more ways than just one, there has been grading, leveling and excavation done just to allow for pavement and concrete to be placed on the surface. All this this was done to ensure that the land was flat and stable for buildings to be constructed. Looking at the property today from the back or from a bird's eye view, the most prominent geological feature is the 12-Mile Creek flowing behind the landscape. This creek is always changing whether it be the speed, the amount of water flowing through it or the height it is sitting at. This creek could potentially be evidence of past glacial activity. Throughout the Niagara Region there is evidence of glacial scraping and past activity so there is reason to believe that the 12-Mile Creek flowing down the Niagara Escarpment is a glacial or previous glacial feature.
Within Wessolak's "Sealing of Soils" he mentions that soil is being sealed when pavement or buildings are placed on top of it and the effects it has on the soil beneath the surface (Wessolak, 2008). In the landscape of McKinnon Industries/General Motors 98% of the property has been paved, this creates challenges when planning for water drainage and runoff.
One thing that has changed the most over the 100 years that there was an industrial business on this property. Due to the amount of years there was industry on this land has contributed to the contamination that has leaked through the surfaces. "On industrial land production-specific wastes or pollution were produced by leakage and accidents" (Wessolak,2008). When large amounts of rain would fall when this plant was in operation, the water would carry the contaminants into cracks and areas that were not covered by pavement and seep into the soil below. Although this was an occurring situation while the plant was still operating, it now continues to be an issue. The landscape has plans drawn up for it to be a residential area. Due to the possibly high levels of contamination within the soils below the surface this property might not be suitable for a future residential development. The government of Ontario and Canada has strict rules when it comes to building on brownfield land, also known has land that has been previously built on.
Hydrogeology:
When viewing McKinnon Industries/General Motors landscape it is evident that there is no real vegetation or areas for water to seep back into the Earth after a heavy rainfall. One major hydrological features of the landscape is the 12-Mile Creek. This property backs onto the 12-Mile Creek that runs from the top of the Niagara Escarpment down to Lake Ontario. The 12-Mile Creek water system passes a lot of area, this creek powers a hydrogeneration plant that supplies St. Catharines and Thorold with power, along with supplying water sources to those in these regions. Over the years that this property has been industrial the creek itself has gone through changes. These changes happen over a period like any watershed or water system. Over time the 12-Mile Creek has eroded away areas of the sides of the creek creating it to be deep in areas as the years have gone on. This creek also changes seasonally, such as when the snow is melting further upstream it causes the amount of water coming down the escarpment to increase. While reading Alberti's "Hydrological Processes" I gathered a more in depth understanding of how much impact industrial properties and institutions have on a watershed and water in the environments around them. When thinking about this property and the landscape around it. The property now is almost completely concreted over and has no visible land that can absorb water. While reading through, Alberti said that "Increasing the amount of impervious surface is the most direct way that urbanization reduces the ability of watersheds to intercept, retain, and filter rainfall" (Alberti, 2008). This to me makes me think of how this is and has been impacting the environment and water around McKinnon Industries/General Motors over the last 100 years that they were on this landscape. The change in the landscape since the early 1900s has been a result of human-induced changes of the area. As buildings were being built trees and grass were being removed. This causes a serious and possible irreversible effect on the water in the surrounding area. With no where for water to absorb back into the earth on the property, it is having to be drained into sewer drains, roadways and sitting in puddles in the middle of one of their big paved parking lots. This might seem fine due to the water being able to get away and not cause damage to buildings, this however is not what needs to be worried about.
The first thing I think of when discussing the process of water landing on an industrial area that makes car engines and machinery is the number of contaminants and particles that are now going to be washed away into a water system. With McKinnon Industries/General Motors being so close to 12-Mile Creek this allows for water to avoid passing through a wastewater or storm water treatment facility, it will go right down the embankment into the 12-Mile Creek watershed. Over the years as the property has grown, precautions have been taken to try and avoid contaminates working there way directly into the creek water, however not everything is able to be taken away through the wastewater system. Right now, as the property is being look at as a potentially new residential area. Planners are having to understand that the soil underneath the concrete and pavement has a good chance of being highly contaminated due to the many years of not having proper drainage or maintenance of the landscape to prevent contamination from happening.
Climate/Microclimate:
When passing the landscape of McKinnon Industries and the past General Motors of Canada Plant there are a lot of questions that one might have. Where regulations followed for air quality, water quality and property drainage? Why did this plant shut down? These questions are answered differently today than they would have been 100 years ago. When reading through Hough's Chapter 6: Climate, a lot of things related to how industrial plants and landscapes are a big contributing factor the worlds current climate state. At one time the City of St. Catharines was very industrial, most people who lived in St. Catharines were employed by either McKinnon Industries/General Motors or by some other industrial institution. When this land was converted from a standalone building owned by McKinnon Dash and Co. it was only taking up a small amount of area on this 54.7-acre property. When General Motors bought the property and the business began to grow so did the size of the buildings and the amount of green space that was covered. When this property was in full working order and creating products daily, and creating larger amount of emissions. In the early 1900s to the mid-1900s the government was not concerned about the emissions outputted into the air like it is today. In the mid-1900s when General Motors was named #1 employer of the Niagara Region, the environmental effect was immense. Neighborhoods experienced smog, dirty homes and streets littered with debris. Today this would not only not happen but if it would change immediately.
Today nearly the entire 54.7-acres is covered with concrete, pavement or a building. Hough says in the beginning of Chapter 6 there are five contributing factors to climate changing in a city and industrial setting, these five factors are; "the difference in materials in urban and non-urban environments, the more aerodynamic roughness of built-up areas than in the county side, the prodigious amount of heat energy pumped into the city atmosphere from heating and cooling systems, factories and vehicles, problems resulting in precipitation and air quality" (Hough, 2014). Looking at McKinnon Industries/General Motors today, it looks as though it had an impact on its microclimate and continues to have an impact. Although the industrial plant is no longer producing product, it is still an environmental burden. Driving or walking by this landscape today there isn't much to see other than organized piles of debris. When buildings on this property began being demolished it was within the plans a set amount of time it was going to take to complete. Time was a big factor in protecting the microclimate around this landscape, not only to keep local residence happy with limited noise, but also to make sure that different materials within buildings were recycled and separated appropriately. This is currently still an issue as the landscape is at a stand still for what is going to be happening in the future. In the past where this property was admitting hundreds of pounds of carbon dioxide every year, it is now releasing debris and gases every time the wind blows, or it rains. Although this property and landscape is no longer doing as it was once intended for, it is still creating an effect on its surrounding microclimate that will continue to have an impact for years to come.
Archaeological influences:
Focusing on some historical features of his landscape, such as what it was used for many years before it was McKinnon Industries/General Motors. This landscape was on the edge of the 12-Mile Creek which settlers would have used as a water source and food source. This property was likely filled with Carolinian trees and plant species along with plenty of wildlife such as deer, rabbits and foxes. St. Catharines was one of the later areas founded in the Niagara Region due to it not being directly across from the United States or along the Niagara River. Settlement of Europeans would have influenced this landscape over time by providing food and shelter during the early years of settlement.
Land use history:
In the early years of this landscape it provided many different uses. Looking at an air photo provided by Niagara Navigator it is clear that the northeastern side of the landscape was farmland in the year 1934. On the southwest side of the landscape there is on building that was the original building of the property and the building that McKinnon Industries really started to grow from (Niagara Green Belt, 2012). This landscape was always used for farming and livestock due to its very flat land. Before the expansion of McKinnon Industries/General Motors and the surrounding neighborhoods this property likely provided food and employment for people of the then Grantham area of the Niagara Region.
Education / Interpretation:
McKinnon Industries was a company that was well known around the Niagara Region as it was a very large employer of those who lived in the St. Catharines and Niagara area. This company was a household name which then was bought out by General Motors of Canada. General Motors is still located in St. Catharines, they had two locations going at the same time in the same city, unfortunately this location was not longer needed, and was included in cutbacks that General Motors made in 2010. For educational purposes there are a few websites that explain the past and currently history of the surrounding landscape and property. Brock University and the Lock 3 Information Centre and Museum both have a collection of old photographs that date back to early 1900s
Architectural Heritage:
When researching this landscape and current state of the environment it was noticeable that there was on section of the remaining building that is from one of the original photos I found in the Brock University photo collection of McKinnon Industries. As the buildings and property now are mostly all demolished, what seems to be one of the original buildings is still standing today. Researching what is going to be done to the property now that it is no longer owned or ran by General Motors, the property is up for sale as a residential development area. This could potentially mean that the remaining building that is original would most likely be torn down as a result of a new development. When looking at the landscape now it doesn't look like much is going to be protect or that it should be. The remaining buildings on the property have been broken into, vandalized and are condemned. Although McKinnon Industries/General Motors was a well-known company and employer of the Niagara Region it doesn't seem as though this landscape or property is going to be deemed historical or protected.
Recreational Uses:
This landscape does not have any specific recreational use due to it being a condemned industrial property. However, there are side walks on that are along Ontario Street which McKinnon Industries/General Motors used to be located on. Civilians use these sidewalks to access the downtown area of St. Catharines along with the retail-oriented Ontario Street. Most of the people that use this street for walking from point one place to another are usually from one of the surrounding neighborhoods. Because the property backs onto the 12-Mile Creek there is possibility for people to be hiking by the property. However, there are no ways of getting to trails from the back of this landscape. Looking at air photos of present day, there is pathways that people of Niagara use as hiking and recreational trial. At one time there might have been a way to get down to the banks of the 12-Mile Creek, but now the fencing around the property and the highway 406 below the property can cause danger for those that are interested in hiking
McKinnon Industries/General Motors property has been passed through many owners over the last 100 years it has been a household name. The property was purchased in 1900-1901 by Ebeneazer McKinnon to allow for more space for his growing business. In 1929 this property became part of the growing car manufacture General Motors. Keeping its original name of McKinnon Industries this property continued to grow and flourish. When cutbacks were made to General Motors in 2010, this plant was one of the chosen to be shut down and sold. After approximately five years of sitting vacant the property was purchased by Bayshore Groups. This company purchased this property with intentions to redevelop and reconstruct the area into a retail and residential area. After about two years of demolition and recycling building materials Bayshore Groups declared bankruptcy. In the year 2017 the property was taken back by the Niagara Region as Bayshore Groups were no longer able to pay their mortgage along with property taxes owning. This landscape is now up for sale by Cushman and Wakefield realtors out of Toronto, Ontario, hoping for another development company to come and take new ownership.
Due to this property always being industrial and privately owned the public is not allowed beyond the chain link fences. This property at one time had barbwire on top of its fences and security guards monitoring entrances as higher levels of security. Today there are chain fences are for the safety and security of the people of St. Catharines and Niagara.
Throughout the multiple ownerships of this property its appearance has changed many times. When the property was first purchased by McKinnon in 1900 it was a single building on 54.7 acres of land. As the years and owners when on the property developed into a mass production facility for General Motors. After being purchased by Bayshore Groups, the property was then demolished for hopes of residential use. In its current state, partly demolished and piles of rubble, the Niagara Region is just leaving it be until a purchaser comes along and develops it, until then the property is going to sit empty. Due to the location of this landscape, near the downtown core of St. Catharines this property would have likely always been within a zoning code or Official plan. This was plant was a major employer for St. Catharines, it would likely always outline changes or ideas of things to change involving this property. Since the property is up for sale when a developer comes to develop the area, proper zoning and designations would have to be implemented before construction begins. This landscape is not managed by any agency or group other than the Niagara Region and the City of St. Catharines. In the future the Niagara Region hopes someone will be able to develop the property and take over owning and managing it.
Land use connections are all interconnected when landscapes are located within city boundaries. McKinnon Industries/General Motors has been interconnected with the City of St. Catharines along with the Niagara Region for over a century.
This landscape has many features and connections all throughout it and within it. The 12-Mile Creek creates available walking paths and bicycle paths for people of the St. Catharines as well as the Niagara Region. While researching about landscape signatures and how all landscapes are not in isolation and how we need to be able to interconnect with not on our resources but the ecosystems around us as well. Alberti says "they find that unique ecosystem structures and functions of urban forests are significantly impacted by urban stresses such as air pollution and elevated levels of heavy metals in the soil heat-island phenomena and the presence of earthworms" (Alberti, 2008). Looking at McKinnon Industries/General Motors Plant 1 now it doesn't look as though there would have been anything on this property before it. The property has been paved over and industrial for over a century, it is hard to imagine what it would have looked like prior to all the urbanization. Due to this property being one of the first of its size in the St. Catharines area, infrastructure for sewers and water had to be implemented over the years as the buildings were. This would have been a major adjacent use and connection to the city and the surrounding areas. Infrastructure such amenities to sewer and water for a property of this size would have made some drastic changes to the site. Another feature that runs directly through the property is the Ontario Street road. Over the last century this road has had railroad tracks on it for moving product around the plant, had been widened from one lane to two lanes. This would have and continues to be a connection point for the St. Catharines area. Since 2016 most buildings are demolished and the property is sitting vacant, a lot of the amenities would have been cut off by the City of St. Catharines or are sitting there not being used. Sewer and water lines tend to be under the surface of the ground meaning that in the coming years if somewhere to purchase the land to create a retail or residential area, this would more time and expense of having to remove these underground amenities. When looking at the roadway of Ontario Street now, it had a stop light removed that was no longer needed and the pavement of the street is regularly being fixed due to the years of heavy trucks going up and down the roadway. This landscape although at a current standstill it will need to have further changes in its future to allow for upcoming developments
City of St. Catharines (Planning and Development Offices)
50 Church St., St. Catharines, Ontario
Phone: 905-688-5200
Niagara Region Head Quarters (Planning and Development Offices)
1815 Sir Issac Brock Way, Thorold, Ontario
Phone: 905-980-6000
Text and online sources:
Farina, Almo. 2006. Principles and methods in landscape ecology [electronic resource] : toward a science of landscape / by Almo Farina. n.p.: Dordrecht : Springer, c2006., 2006. Brock University Library Catalogue, EBSCOhost (accessed August 29, 2014).
Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority: Natural Areas Inventory (2007-2009) Retrieved from: https://npca.ca/images/uploads/common/NAI-Vol-2.pdf
St. Catharines Standard (2014-2017). Photos: General Motors Plant
Youtube (2016). General Motors St. Catharines Tear Down.
Map References:Niagara Navigator (2019). Maps Retrieved from https://maps.niagararegion.ca/Navigator/
Google Maps (n.d.) [Street View of Old St. Catharines General Motors Plant] Retrieved from https://www.google.com/maps/@43.1665571,-79.260717,592m/data=!3m1!1e3
Google Earth (n.d.) [Location of Old St. Catharines General Motors Plant] Retrieved from https://earth.google.com/web/@43.16679841,-79.25904398,108.03953057a,1906.09888533d,35y,327.00278019h,0t,0r
This Local Landscape Report was prepared by Sydney Van Leeuwen for the Brock University course GEOG 2P94: Human Dominated Ecosystems on November 7, 2019.
All copyrights for cited material rest with the original copyright owners.
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