Norwood once had a ‘chicken hotel’

Asphodel Norwood is home to several poultry and egg related businesses. Many of these enterprises are large operations with thousands of chickens.

Poultry farming is not a recent addition in this area; many records show that this specialized agricultural venture dates back over a century.

This story focuses on one unique poultry project in the village that for many years was endearingly and rather suitably referred to as “The Chicken Hotel.”

The building itself started out as a wooden-framed two-storey structure constructed in the mid-1880s. The main section measured 50 feet long by 30 feet wide with 13-foot ceilings inside. The front entrance was covered by a large veranda that spanned the length of the building, and the entrance opened up into an imposing centre hall and a grand staircase expertly crafted from cherry.

The second storey was divided into nine bedrooms, while down in the basement large cedar beams rested on 30-inch-thick stone walls, giving the building a strong and solid footing. The builder was one of the village’s early contractors, J.R. McKelvie.

The building was located on the northeast corner of County Road 40 (a.k.a. Victoria Street) and Wellington Street; due to its proximity to the Norwood train station (which was located only a short distance away on the opposite side of County Road 40) and because of its unique design it is believed to have been built to be used as a hotel.

Oddly enough no record seems to exist to prove that it ever fulfilled its intended purpose. One theory is that the owner was unable to obtain a liquor licence and decided not to open at all. While this part of the story is lost to time, it is known that by the turn of the century it had been converted into a double house with the construction of a wall and second staircase.

It had also at some point become the property of Norwood’s prominent businessperson and townsman H.G. Buck. On his death it was left to his widow who was recorded as the owner in the 1920s and 30s. Many families during those earlier years called the building home, including the Gerow family who would eventually move to Havelock and the Wrightly family whose descendants continue to reside in Norwood today.

In 1941 the building was sold at a tax sale and was purchased by John F. Elliott. For whatever reason the village council then purchased it from Elliot later in the same year. The following year, 1942, the council sold the building to David A. McNeil for $225 with the full knowledge that he intended to use it as a chicken house.

From 1942 until 1947, the building underwent several stages of conversion. In spite of its age and lack of routine maintenance it still stood strong and plumb and the floors remained level.

The first order of business was to remove the partition that divided the building in two and to tear out the second staircase. The high ceilings combined with the fact that there was no insulation in the walls made the building very cold in the winter.

As it turned out the lack of any filling in the walls facilitated one of the most unique conversions to the inside of the building; it made it possible to literally lift the entire second floor up over five feet extra in height and build a new second floor beneath the original one.

The original gable-ended roof was removed and replaced with a gently sloping roof that allowed more head room in the attic.

After the modifications were complete the result was an efficient and working four-storey building.

By the end of 1947 the transformation from hotel to chicken house was complete and with four floors of chickens clucking, it was also about the time people in the village began referring to it as the “chicken hotel.”

The basement level was used to store the shavings and food. It was soon apparent that some form of device was needed to move the supplies between floors. McNeil enlisted the services of one of Norwood’s most creative inventors and machinists, Chester Hall, to design a lift of sorts. The end result was a unique contraption that utilized an old manual platform elevator rescued from a Toronto warehouse that was being torn down, a chain and sprocket from an old manure spreader and a reversible electric motor.

The fact that it apparently worked perfectly for about 20 years is an amazing tribute to Chester’s skills and improvisation.

McNeil operated his “chicken hotel” until 1966 when he leased it to another Norwood gentleman, Bob Bailey. Bailey purchased the property outright in 1971.

The village’s “chicken hotel” was demolished in 1973 by Norwood’s Bunny Miles and replaced by residential bungalows.

The village’s “chicken hotel” was demolished in 1973 by Norwood’s Bunny Miles and replaced by residential bungalows