Top 3 Abandoned Places In Kitchener-Waterloo

There are so many abandoned places in Kitchener-Waterloo! This is a list of the top three abandoned places in Kitchener-Waterloo. Browse through all abandoned places in Kitchener-Waterloo

1. Rec'd Centre

The "Islamic Association of K-W" purchased an 11 acre plot of farmland on the outskirts of Kitchener in 1998 with high aspirations of building the "Largest Islamic centre in Canada". However, securing funding was tough and no action was taken until 2005 when the city issued a building permit for a "Multi-Purpose Recreational Facility". Seemingly little action took place from then on, until a permit for plumbing was added in 2007.

It appears as though the building has sat vacant since then, despite a 2016 news article stating that over $2M in donations had been secured and progress was to begin shortly, with the building expected to be complete and active within a few years. Well, it's now 2019 and the building is still a concrete shell. The ceiling is leaking, there's no flooring anywhere to be found, a collection of a couple dozen toilets, light fixtures and HVAC components lay vandalized and rusting away inside.

2. Huron Natural Area ruins

Located on the Plantation Trail in the Huron Natural Area near the sunfish pond. This forested area was planted in the late 1950(a)s to create habitat from abandoned farm fields. This area is between where the villages of Williamsburg and New Aberdeen were located. According to the Waterloo Region Museum website New Aberdeen(a)s first industry was a sawmill on Aberdeen creek established 1836 and it had a post office until 1877. Supposedly it flourished in the pre-railway days because it was on the Huron Road but virtually disappeared by the turn of the twentieth century. Williamsburg had sawmills on Strasburg creek by the 1840(a)s. I(a)m pretty sure it(a)s the foundation of a barn, although there are some metal beams strewn about the ruins, and lots of other metal artifacts.

3. Barra Castle

A huge abandoned castle looking mansion. 4 stories, with a basement, and roof access.

Info from Skye_Ann:

Barra Castle info: Barra Castle was built by Molly Marquette in 1930, and, it is claimed that she modeled it after her childhood home in Russia. A couple decades later, a large addition was added to the back of the building to accommodate rental apartments. In the 1980's the building was used as beautiful apartments. Some units even had 2,000 sqft of living space.

In 2007 the building was found to not uphold the electrical and fire codes, and the tenants were evicted. The building sat boarded up and (relatively) empty until 2010 when a demolition permit was issued for the building - despite it's historical designation.

The original plan was to save the facade, and demolish the back addition. But in 2011 it was found that the cost of over $1M wasn't going to be worth it and within months the entire building was torn down.