Woolen Mill Salvage Yard

From 1970 to 1990, the Cataraqui Street Woolen Mill was surrounded on at least two sides by the Harold's Demolition salvage yard. A 1984 Snapshot Kingston aerial view (top photo) shows the Woolen Mill, Harold's Demolition yard, and the former location of the CP spur (yellow line) to the mill's former loading dock.

Operated by company president Harold Westendorp who was born in Holland in 1952, the yard at 5 (or 6) Cataraqui Street was routinely advertised in the Whig as a site to find salvage items too good for scrap. Westendorp, who began his business on Church Street in Brockville before moving it to Kingston, claimed he was the youngest salvage company owner in Ontario at the time. 

Harold's Demolition at the burned out Fort Henry Hotel on Princess Street, February 4, 1969 - Whig clipping:

This notice was from a June 23, 1970 Whig:

 A January 30, 1976 Whig classified ad describes salvage coming from the former Canadian Tire store:

In July, 1980 there were big savings to be had:

An August, 1989 classified ad:

A 1985 flap about high-density housing zoning change proposed for the area brought the company president to a public meeting, with the possibility of having to find another location for the salvage yard, away from the Inner Harbour location. Such a move was estimated to cost Harold's $2.5 million! Harold's, Rosen Fuels and S. Anglin Co. all objected to the city's proposed zoning of 60 acres from River Street down to Place d'Armes. Though only valued at $3,000 per unit (Rosen) and $10,000 per unit (Harold's), the proposed change would increase land values up to $18,000 per unit.

An undated photo of the yard kindly shared by Marc Shaw, looking up Cataraqui Street with the Bailey broom factory at extreme right:

In 1986, the property was described as being bounded by a corrugated metal fence between 10 and 12 feet high, topped with mountings for barbed wire. The operation was then sometimes referred to as Harold's Recycling Centre, much more in line with emerging environmental enlightenment.

Used by Harold and Hilda Westendorp as a warehouse for nearby Harold's Demolition, the National Grocers building was the site of an auction held to sell off various stored materials in late-October, 1987 resulting in $30,000 in sales. Even the kitchen sink(s) were for sale! At the time, the proposed Wellington Street extension was planned for the site of the salvage yard.

A June, 1992 Whig clipping (below) shows a Sheriff's Sale of a Westendorp grader. When Hank Doornekamp bought the Woolen mill and adjacent 3.2-acre Harold's Demolition salvage yard in mid-1993, Harold's Demolition was already a defunct company. The proposed use of the yard for residential use never materialized, and the Woolen Mill (formerly Whig) parking lot now occupies some of that real estate.

I moved my scrap yard to make way for an Anglin expansion recently. I moved some scrap behind an emplaced chain-link fence in front of the Woolen Mill, drawing inspiration from Harold's salvage yard: