There was an inevitability to it, and now the inevitable has happened.
Hamilton’s Corner Garage, what many saw as an institution in south end Guelph, has closed its doors.
“Yes, the business is closed,” said Margaret Hannaberg, the sister of late owners Bill and Jim Hamilton. “So far the land has not been sold.”
A large banner has been hung on the outside of the business, thanking Guelph for decades of support.
Hannaberg and her sister-in-law, Nancy Hamilton, Bill’s wife, are winding the business down. Jack Hamilton, a surviving brother, lives in the city.
The women were seated at a large desk inside the mechanic shop on Monday morning, surrounded by shelves and drawers filled with assorted automotive parts. There were framed pictures here and there, many with a Volvo theme, and framed newspaper articles about the legendary Hamilton brothers.
“It’s quite sad,” said Nancy, speaking of the end of the business. She is a co-owner. “It was difficult making the decision.”
While the business specialized in Volvo repair and maintenance, the last vehicle in the mechanic’s bay was a classic DeLorean. The closing of the business has put one mechanic and three other employees out of work.
The Hamilton family has maintained a business at 1354 Gordon St., at the the corner of Arkell Road and Gordon, for 87 years, on land that has been in the family since the 1830s, land that used to be in the rural countryside. Hamilton's Corner Garage started in the 1940s, becoming a Volvo specialty shop in the 70s.
In the past five years or so, the location has been increasingly encroached upon by new residential and commercial development.
The two brothers who operated it as a mechanic shop both passed away in recent times. Jim died last October, his brother three years earlier. They were the experts that held the operation together.
“They specialized in Volvo, and then they became expert at it,” Hannaberg said.
The garage’s 30 or so Volvo wrecks, its transport containers full of parts, its scrap yard, and its mechanic shop from another era, were beginning to stand out just a bit more each year.
On all sides, new homes, apartment buildings, and plazas have sprung up in the city’s rapidly growing south end, and other neighbouring land is slated for development.
“It’s a shame that it closed,” said Matty Bridle, a cook who worked next to the business. “It was kind of an institution in the city, but it was inevitable. I guess it will make way for new development. That’s the way things are moving. That is prime real estate these days.”
Hannaberg was raised in a house on the property, and has been Hamilton’s Corner Garage bookkeeper on and off since she was 12-years-old. Before it was a mechanic shop, the location had at various times been home to a tavern, a restaurant, and a lawn and garden supplies store.
Hannaberg said there have been many offers to purchase the property over the years, but the brothers refused to sell, considering it more important to maintain the business for their loyal customers, and continue to do the work they loved.
Just under two-acres in size, the land will now be sold. Offers are welcome.
Volvo enthusiasts throughout southern Ontario, and many from other parts of the world, turned to the Hamiltons for their expertise, and for hard to find parts.
On Monday, an excavator was on the site, scooping up scattered metal and depositing it in a large recycling bin. Hannaberg said that is first step of a site clean-up process.
Offers are coming in on the wrecks, but it is not yet decided what will be done with the vehicles on the used car lot. The brothers also sold used Volvos.
