A beloved Mississauga home, built in the 1800s, has approval for demolition.
Built sometime in the 1800s, likely around 1876, the home at 17 Scarboro St. in Malton was added to the City of Mississauga’s Heritage Register in 1989, according to a Heritage Committee Advisory report.
The home has sat vacant and boarded up for many years, and now the current property owner would like to demolish it.
Many in the Malton community may remember the long-time owners of the home, the Stroud family.
Rosanne Woodley said her grandparents, Harold and Mamie Stroud, moved into the home in 1951 and bought it in 1955.
“It was a forested, regal home that was known by many in Malton,” Woodley said at the April 14 Heritage Committee Advisory meeting. “My grandparents had quite a presence with the Trinity United Church, Girl Guides, Ratepayers…”
Harold was a police officer in England before he and Mamie moved to Canada, Woodley said. Harold worked for Avro and Orenda before he retired in 1981. He was a Cub Scout leader and Mamie established the Malton branch of the Girl Guides. Mamie also helped research and write the book “Malton Memories.”
The home remained in the Stroud family until 1996. The property sold in 2008 and again in 2016, according to online real estate records.
The home at 17 Scarboro St. in Malton. Photo: City of Mississauga submission
Woodley’s presentation and historical photos of her family home moved committee member David Cook to oppose the demolition of the home. Cook grew up in Malton and knew of the Stroud family.
“Everybody in the town knew the family and everybody knew the home,” Cook said.
The Heritage Committee Advisory was required to weigh in on the fate of the property because it is listed on the city’s heritage registry. The committee could have voted to designate the property, which would have limited the owner’s ability to demolish the home.
However, staff felt that this home doesn’t meet the criteria for designation, said John Dunlop, manager, Indigenous Relations, Heritage and Museums at the meeting. In addition to having a strong connection to the community, the state of the home must also be considered, Dunlop said.
“It really comes down to, in cases like this one, to the state of the building,” he said. There are other 19th-century farmhouses in much better condition, which are preserved in Malton.
The condition of the home would make it difficult to preserve. The report suggests that due to the building’s deteriorated condition, little, if any of the home’s original features can be salvaged.
The interior of the home at 17 Scarboro St. in Malton. Photo: City of Mississauga submission
Committee member and historian Matthew Wilkinson said the home has been boarded up for many years.
“It was was rough shape when I photographed it in 2011, and it hasn’t gotten better,” Wilkinson said.
The Stroud family has made a considerable contribution to Malton, and staff would support commemoration of the family in some way, Dunlop said. Options could include the naming of a trail or park after the Stroud’s.
The Heritage Committee Advisory approved the motion to allow the demolition of the home.
For more information, see the committee meeting and reports here.
Lead photo of 17 Scarboro St. in Malton: City of Mississauga submission
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