Owen Sound's harbour grain elevator to close Dec. 18 after a century

The grain elevator on Owen Sound's west harbour is closing. It has been part of the city's skyline for 101 years.

Parrish & Heimbecker, the Winnipeg-based grain company that runs the terminal, "has decided to permanently close its Owen Sound terminal effective December 18, 2026," marketing manager Monika Robertson said in an email to Bayshore Broadcasting News on Oct. 14.

"The decision is part of P & H's ongoing evaluation of its grain network and long-term infrastructure needs as we continue to align our operations and investments with the future needs of the business and the customers we serve," Robertson said in the statement. Bayshore reported that the company cited financial reasons. P&H has not posted a statement on its own website.

The closure will affect six employees, according to the United Food and Commercial Workers union, which represents workers at the 1st Street West marine terminal. UFCW Local 175 president Kelly Tosato told the Owen Sound Sun Times the union "worked to ensure that our members at Great Lakes Elevators were treated fairly and supported throughout this process." Bayshore reported that workers were told last week.

P&H has not said publicly what will happen to the site. Bayshore reported there is "no indication" of the company's plans.

Who owns it

P&H runs the elevator through its subsidiary, Great Lakes Elevator Co. Ltd., according to the Sun Times. P&H is family-owned and was founded in 1909 by the Parrish family of Brandon, Man., and the Heimbecker family of Hanover, the Sun Times reported, citing the company's website.

A Facebook post from the Community Waterfront Heritage Centre says P&H has owned the elevator "since the 1950s." Other records give a longer history. In a 2014 Better Farming article, P&H was described as having "participated in ownership of Owen Sound facilities for 85 years" before buying out its partners in 1956. Bayshore and the Sun Times also give 1956 as the year P&H became sole owner.

A City of Owen Sound map of harbour land ownership labels the elevator parcel as P&H land. The harbour itself is federally owned. P&H broke off talks with Transport Canada about taking it over in 2014, the Sun Times and Better Farming reported.

A century on the harbour

The elevator replaced the Canadian Pacific Railway elevators, which burned on Dec. 11, 1911, according to a Sun Times local-history column first published in 1997. After the fire, the CPR moved its Great Lakes fleet to Port McNicoll, and for 14 years the grain trade bypassed Owen Sound, the column says.

The new terminal opened on Nov. 13, 1925, when the steamer Homer Smith arrived, according to the column. Built to hold one million bushels, it was doubled in 1927 and doubled again to four million bushels two years later. The heritage centre's post likewise says it "had to be expanded twice to meet demand." A 1936 Great Lakes marine directory lists the Great Lakes Elevator Co. at four million bushels. Today the site can store 93,000 tonnes, the Sun Times reported.

Bayshore reported that P&H marked 100 years since the first ship unloaded at the terminal last year.

The heritage centre's post credits P&H's mill in Hanover with keeping marine shipments going as other Georgian Bay elevators closed. The Banner could not independently confirm that. In 2014, P&H's Steve Kell told Better Farming that P&H's push and its Hanover operations had increased use of the elevator, and that outbound grain came mainly from Grey, Bruce, western Simcoe and northern Dufferin counties.

"Open or closed, the Owen Sound grain elevator's century of operation will continue to be a celebrated part of local history," the heritage centre wrote.

Your turn

Did you or your family haul grain to the Owen Sound elevator, or work on the boats that unloaded there? What should become of the site? Send us your memories and photos at news@chatsworthbanner.ca.