Indian Head Walking Tour Brochure & Map.pdf - Tourism ...

42. 436 Grand Avenue:
Changing to Suit the Times
From its original farm supply store to the present Fit
Stop Gym, managed by Orland Thompson, 436 Grand,
built in 1895, has changed to fit the times. Joseph (Jos)
Glenn, the first owner, also had a feed and livery stable.
In the store, he sold essentials such as livestock feed and
twine. A memoir by Hector (Hec) Blair recalls businesses
run by John Blair and George Elliot on the main floor,
while Glenn’s offices were upstairs.
In the 1930s, the main floor was the Indian Head Town
Office, with Royal Canadian Legion meeting rooms
upstairs. Still later, the building housed the Salvation
Army. When the Salvation Army built a new Citadel a
few blocks away, it sold 436 Grand to Lee McKay, who
ran Can-Star Sports, supplier of sporting equipment.
Other businesses operating here over the years have been
McDermaid’s small engine repair shop and “Theo’s,”
Joan and Ted Singbeil’s dress shop. For several
summers, the storefront has been transformed again,
becoming the Mercy radio station for Little Mosque on
the Prairie.
Besides the large workout gym in the front, the present
incarnation has provided backroom space for activities
as diverse as theatre rehearsals and yoga classes.
Upstairs is a roomy family home. While the interior
has been modernized, the exterior retains its heritage
appeal, with wooden trim on the storefront and along the
roofline. AK
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