Wellington Village residential-to-commercial, with a focus on the Wellington Diner

The current edition of the Kitchissippi Times features an article I wrote, describing the changes to Wellington Street West over the last 100 years or so, but most particularly since the 1950s, when the area was still largely residential. As the need for more commercial space has increased over time, houses have been re-purposed as shops, stores, restaurants and other businesses. Wellington West is fairly unique in this regard, and what's great is that almost all of the original buildings in Wellington Village still remain today (unlike Westboro, where a lot of these old converted houses were demolished during the late 1990s and in to the 2000s).

This article takes a particular look at the Wellington Diner, at the corner of Wellington and Western, and it's history from residential house, to used car lot, and eventually, a restaurant. The article also details just how it ended up that a vacant lot ended up in this spot, a story which originates all the way back in 1911. This vacant lot of course now is contentious over the establishment of a patio, the matter passing through Council but now headed towards the Ontario Municipal Board in Toronto.

The online version of the article contains a few extra photos of the neighbourhood, and some neat old ads for the used car lot which stood on this location for over 40 years. Thanks for reading!

https://kitchissippi.com/2017/08/03/home-car-lot-restaurant-the-evolution-of-1385-wellington-st-w/

The Wellington Diner - aka the Stacey home.
Circa 1930