SIMCOE, ONTARIO

'Simcoe' is a community of approx. 16,000 people in southwestern Ontario, near Lake Erie, and is the administrative centre (seat) of Norfolk County, Ontario. It is located at the junction of Highway 3, at Highway 24, due south of Brantford, Ontario, and accessible to Hamilton by nearby Highway 6. The town is also located northwest of Nanticoke in Haldimand County. The community of Simcoe should not be confused with Simcoe County, located on the north shore of Lake Simcoe, of the many places he is named after in Ontario.
Until the 1970s, Simcoe hosted a segregated elementary school for the mentally challenged called Simcoe Lions School. Campbell Clark Preschool provided education for preschoolers until the year 1999, where it was replaced by a co-op preschool located in the multi-purpose room of the Talbot Gardens.

Contents

Modern Simcoe

Business and Community Events

Local Schools

Prime Real Estate

The former municipality of Simcoe

Modern Simcoe

Simcoe was named after the first Lieutenant governor of Upper Canada (Ontario), John Graves Simcoe. The Eva Brook Donly Museum features displays of the local history. Famous people from Simcoe and area include hockey players Rob Blake, Jassen Cullimore, Dwayne Roloson, and musician Rick Danko. Simcoe has two free clinics and a general hospital. Simcoe hosts The Simcoe Recreation Center (known as "The Rec Center"), which houses a community pool, event rooms, and an ice rink. Talbot Gardens also houses an ice rink and a concession stand that serves French fries and soft drinks. The town has its own radio station, CHCD-FM.

Business and Community Events

Simcoe is well known for annual community events including the Friendship Festival, Panorama, and the Norfolk County Fair and Horse Show that is held every October.
Businesses in Simcoe range from dollar stores, strip malls and shopping malls, department stores such as Zellers, and a variety of specialty retailers, such as bakeries and jewelers. A Wal-Mart store in under construction in the northeastern end of Simcoe, which will open around the Easter of 2008. New stores that have recently opened for business include ''Boston Pizza'', ''Pizza Pizza'', and ''Shopper's Drug Mart''. However, the ''Shopper's Drug Mart'' is facing a potential threat of closure by a conservative bloc of downtown businessmen (including the owner of ''Roulston's Discount Drugs'' and the owner of the local ''Pharmasave'') due to the improper zoning of the land by the City of Norfolk. The land was actually zoned for a convenience store which is less than 2500 sq. feet, whereas Shoppers is approx. 17000 sq. feet.
Rezoning is underway for a ''Hart Stores'' franchise on the Queensway and it should be open by the winter of 2007. Also, plans for a ''Home Depot'' to be built in Simcoe is in the preliminary stages.

Local Schools

The Simcoe Composite School (Grand Erie District School Board) features a new state-of-the-art gymnasium was built, after the old gymnasium was burned in a fire in October 2003. Holy Trinity Catholic High School (Simcoe, Ontario) (Brant Haldimand Norfolk Catholic District School Board) is another recent addition to the town. In addition to this, there are also four elementary schools: Elgin Avenue Public School, West Lynn Public School, and Lynndale Heights Public School and one separate catholic school (BHNCDSB) St. Joseph's Catholic School. There is also a French Catholic elementary school named Ecole St. Marie (Conseil scolaire de district catholique Centre-Sud) in the community. Fanshawe College also has James N. Allan Campus, an area campus, there.

Prime Real Estate

The western outskirts of Simcoe is prime real estate for real estate developers who are transforming former tobacco farms into new residential units. A soccer playing field has been established for youth leagues in nearby Hillcrest for the purpose of youth soccer. It is believed that Simcoe will eventually spread in that direction and people who buy in 2008 can often sell their real estate for a considerable profit by the year 2028 when stores, restaurants, and services are firmly established in the area. The eastern outskirts of Simcoe are seeing increased value due to the ongoing construction of the town's Wal-Mart. Many farms are being sold for development as farmers either pass on or decide to sell their land for a profit.

The former municipality of Simcoe

From the 19th century to early 2000, Simcoe had its own town council and mayor. The people from the town of Simcoe and its immediate outskirts would elect the former ''Corporation of the Town of Simcoe''. Rick Kowalsky was the last mayor of Simcoe before it become part of the Norfolk County single-tier municipality.
This is list of mayors who served the former municipality of Simcoe, Ontario and its successor.
Note: the list is not complete

★ 195?-1992: Jim Earl

★ 1992-2000: Rick Kowalsky

★ 2000-2006: Rita Kalmbach

★ 2006-?: Dennis Travale