Neighbourhood clowns

Founded around 1952, the Brampton Clown Band was a regular at town parades, carnivals, and other events for children. Founded by Andy Cuthbert, and taken over by Vic Carter upon Cuthbert’s death. During its existence, which was at least until Brampton’s Centennial in 1973, the band won awards from the St. Catherine’s Grape Festival Parade, performed at the Minden Winter Carnival for over a decade, at hospitals as far as Orillia and Weston, and toured the senior’s home circuit. Consisting of fifteen members at its peak, by Centennial only the leader, bass, snare drum, bass drum, and banjo players remained.

The Etobicoke River: Contemporary appreciation (part 7)

Three deaths and millions of dollars in damage later, the Etobicoke River was diverted, no longer flowing through Downtown Brampton. Costing $1 million at the time, roughly $7.9 million with inflation, the diversion was paid for in full by 1973, nineteen years after being finished, but a full one hundred years after being approved by the province. While it’s doubtful you could catch a pan fish or trout, the dedicated nature lover can still spot a muskrat. Take a walk from the Brampton Mall, on Nanwood and Main, to Osler’s Peel Memorial Hospital, and appreciate the beauty of Brampton’s waterway.

The Etobicoke River: Finished just in time (part 6)

Almost 79 years after getting Provincial approval for a diversion of the Etobicoke, a concrete bemoth was put into construction, after the 1948 flood. Costing nearly $1 million (adjusted to $7.9 million in 2006), a quarter of the money came from Brampton, the rest from the Province. Notable local firm the Armstrong Brothers completed construction in November 1951. Two ceremonies were held, and a cairn still stands at Scott and Church Streets, to dedicate the diversion. This expense was proved justified the night of October 15, 1954, when Hurricane Hazel decimated areas from Mimico to Woodbridge. The structure held strong.

The Etobicoke River: The last straw (part 5)

Things were as bad as ever in 1946. A flood of the Etobicoke River cause $4.6 million in damages (adjusted to 2006), yet another man dead, and Downtown Brampton under six feet of water. To add a modern perspective to the situation, downtown New Orleans was under eight feet with Hurricane Katrina. It was clear the enclosed tunnel running under the downtown just couldn’t take such brute force. The newly founded Conservation Authority had already drafted a report that was sent into action, under the guidance of Mayor John S. Beck, during his sixth and final year in elected office.

The Etobicoke River: Coordinated action against the Etobicoke (part 4)

The city decided enough was enough, for the Etobicoke River. Too many lives had been lost, too many millions wasted on repairs. But, if anything were to be done with the Etobicoke River, it had to be done in proper co-operation with other municipalities. Otherwise, any actions would simply push the problem downstream. The Province passed an act in 1946, enabling the creation of conservation authorities. Now cities could coordinate and cooperate in their efforts against raging watersheds. A March 1948 flood, which caused $4.8 million damage, with today’s rate of inflation, put the downtown under six feet of water.

Peel's "County Town"

Brampton hosts most of the Region of Peel’s offices, from the police to the health department. This is thanks to an 1865 vote, which established the “County Town”. After splitting from what is York Region, Peel polled for the location of their municipal government, via a write-in ballot. Brampton won with a landslide of 2311 votes, easily beating runner Malton’s 494 votes. Port Credit was the only other village to get more than 100 ballots to its name. Of the thirty “places” suggested, eleven received only a single vote. Two of those were pranks, suggesting “At Home” and “Dilley Tom”.

Peel Memorial Hospital, part three

Despite five expansions to Peel Memorial in a span of 31 years, planners were facing a hard time of keeping up with overwhelming demand. Thankfully the South Peel Hospital (now Trillium Health Centre) opened in 1952, to serve those in the towns that eventually became Mississauga. A two-stage expansion, including a 10-storey wing, added 439 beds at a cost of $10.5 million. Grown from 12 to 700 beds, the hospital hosted 8,755 people annually by 1965, and 16,919 by Brampton’s Centennial in 1973. By that year, plans were underway to build a 200-bed hospital in Bramalea by 1980, by Chinguasousy Township.