James Keating 50th Anniversary Feature

James Keating Construction | 50 Years | A special feature of the Wellington Advertiser

James Keating Construction

Join us Saturday, September 15, 2007 for our Anniversary Open House - Everyone Welcome!

1:00 PM - 5:00 PM, Elora Community Centre - David St., Elora

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James Keating Construction | 50th Anniversar y

Jim with berries

Jim with his

Just a kid at heart!

Dad, using

horsepower

THIS TRIBUTE SALUTE PUBLISHED BY THE WELLINGTON ADVERTISER IS PRESENTED THROUGH THE COURTESY OF THE ADVERTISERS - THE SUPPLIERS, SUB TRADES, CRAFTSMEN AND SERVICE PROVIDERS CONTRACTED BY KEATING CONSTRUCTION COVER PHOTO COURTESY OF SOPHIE HOGAN

Jim in h

ning” chair Jim in his “Award Win

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James Keating Construction | 50th Anniversar y

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Jim Keating celebrating 50 successful years in construction

by David Meyer When it comes to local building and doing it successfully, James Keating Construction has now been doing just that over three generations and 5o years.

A part of the company’s website explains how Keating and his company became an integral part of the community, as well as building a great deal of it.

The website states, “As a family run company we take great pride in our work and our connection to the local community. We are also very proud of the very high standards that we adhere to and that our staff uphold. At Keating Construction it’s not just about selling houses but rather its truly about building a great community.

We live here, our staff live here and we are all interested in creating a beautiful place to live.

When people beginning in a business see someone who is successful, there is often a tendency to think that success was instantaneous, inevitable, and that somehow there was a lot of luck involved.

But developer Jim Keating knows the real path to success. He has been building for it for 50 years, and those years saw plenty of hard work and a few gambles along the way that some preparation and persistence helped pay off.

Many people want to put down roots in the Elora area, and Jim Keating knows about that. His own roots there run deep.

His father, Frank, and mother, Mary, were both born and raised on farms in old Nichol township, and they moved their small family into Salem around 1940.

At that time, Frank built their house on Sophia Street. Building homes was a part time occupation for him, done on nights, weekends, and holidays, while he worked at various businesses to support his family.

He did renovating work, and sometimes built and lived in houses before selling them and building somewhere else.

Jim Keating is Frank and Mary’s oldest son, and he was always interested in what his father was doing.

Soon, he was working with his dad, serving a four-year carpenter’s apprenticeship.

Back in those days, it took four years to get his carpenter’s papers, including trade school and “so many hours on the job,” but Jim Keating never really did stop his education.

He worked on construction projects by day, and studied at night school the various aspects of his trade for over 18 years. He learned about making stairs, making cabinets, concrete and the way it could be

Elora builder - Jim Keating has been building homes in the Elora area for 50 years now. Here he is all smiles looking over the plans for one of his biggest projects, Station Square. used, pouring footings and foundations, and how to do electrical and heating systems.

He remembers those early days when builders not only had to wheel their cement, but also mix it on site before it hit the wheelbarrow. A good foundation

Phone 519-856-4623 Fax 519-856-1183 www.rooftrusses.ca

is the basis of a good building, and Keating remembers to this day the mixture of one shovel of cement to four of gravel. It was wheeled and placed into footings, and later, into forms two feet wide with steel whalers holding the wall together until the cement had set.

When those foundations were finished Keating and his workers would then start the framing. Next came insulation, gyprock in those days, in two-foot sheets.

After that came the floors, in tile or wood.

Homes were fairly basic then, even if the work was difficult.

“When I started, every floor had vinyl at the front door,” he said. “The bedrooms, hall, and living room got hardwood.”

The houses were smaller then, too, and Keating remembers that he often built 1,000 square foot homes with three bedrooms and a bath. He noted that the front door was built to allow all the appliances to get into the finished house, and said since the modern Building Codes were enacted, “Everything is better. The code has really changed, and a lot of it is for the better.”

If people think those first homes Keating was building were small, they will be amazed at how the development business worked when he first got started.

He began his company doing small renovation projects, Keating remembers, “like anything at all. We would be framing, trimming, for other construction companies.”

But in 1958, Keating built his first house - from the basement to the attic. It

was for a cousin, located in Guelph.

From that start, he eventually became a full fledged developer, but he did not even imagine doing that at first.

“I never thought of being a developer,” he said. “I did see [myself] building homes. It takes a lot of patience to be a developer – especially today.”

The first lots he built homes on were already surveyed, and, “It was just infilling,” he recalled.

Then, in late 1960, he bought a couple of lots on Irvine Street, right around the corner from his home on Mathieson Street in Salem, from Elora village council – at a price of $200 each.

The purchase came with strings attached.

“The stipulation was you couldn’t buy the lot unless you built a house on it,” Keating said. “When you built the house, you could buy another lot.”

The village’s desire to grow and Keating’s fledgling company being willing to build seemed to work for both of them.

“There was no growth in this town,” he remembered.

“Nobody was building.

There were weeds to cut” on the vacant lots.

That meant no real property taxes for the village council. Only when the lots Continued on next page

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James Keating Construction | 50th Anniversar y

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Jim Keating Construction started small and grew over the years FROM PREVIOUS PAGE had buildings could they generate taxes, and since the lots already had a water system available, the town fathers saw empty lots as wasted potential.

Keating remembers that with those first homes he had to build a septic system, too. Years later, his company would be building entire sewage collection systems - and in the same part of town.

“The top lot was $500,” he said of those early prices.

“And they weren’t prize lots.”

He built four homes on Irvine Street, and three more on John Street, purchasing all of them from Elora council.

But being such a young builder had its own special set of problems.

“I had hard times,” he said, remembering the rejections from the banks. “It was rough. I was only 20 when I started on my own, and the banks wouldn’t give you money unless you were 21.”

But a neighbour was interested in what Keating was hoping to do. He was a retired farmer who had moved to town and liked to invest in mortgages rather than putting his money in the bank.

“The bank turned me down in the morning, so I

went to the neighbour that night,” Keating remembered. He also found out that Ontario Hydro and Union Gas were lending money for building projects - so they could create more customers.

In 1969, Keating took his first major step towards moving from a builder of homes to becoming a full fledged developer, but his love of construction and pride in his work continued.

By then, he had met his wife, Fran, and she was looking after the company books, a chore she took over from Jim’s mom. Frank Keating was still with the firm, too into the 1970s when his health finally stopped him working.

Ville Lora Heights, at the east part of the village, “was the first one we did,” he said of the 36-lot, full subdivision. Two years after he bought the land, he built the first house on it.

Black and Shoemaker did the planning for that subdivision, and Gamsby and Mannerow were the engineers. Keating and those companies are still doing subdivision business together to this day. The homes were built on John, and Franklin, Irvine, and Sophia streets.

The name, Ville Lora, was a takeoff on Village of Elora.

Keating was well on his

Village of Elora Deputy-Reeve Stephen Thorning, Bob Foote and Jim Keating are shown at the dedication of Foote Park.

way. Today, he has built over 1,000 homes, and most of them have been in the Elora area.

After that first subdivision came Ville Lora Downs. Fran said Keating Construction Limited bought that land, also on the east side of Elora, from Bob Foote. She said the land that was used to build the Wellington Terrace was developed by Foote himself, but he later sold the remainder of the farm to Keating.

Today, it is an attractive subdivision. That was not always the case. Colborne Street in those days was a dirt road leading out of town, and it flooded every spring. Fran remembered

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that Jim walked out Colborne Street all the way to Gerrie Road to take a mental survey his next project and the whole area was flooded. When Keating built the subdivisions, he also solved the drainage problems.

Most of the land was actually located in old Nichol township, and “only a little” was in Elora proper, Jim Keating said.

He soon found out that development rules were fast changing, and local councils were getting more determined in having a say in how the town would grow.

With two councils involved, the development quickly became a real headache.

“It was 12 years of fighting with the powers that be,” Fran remembered, adding that part of the problem was sewage capacity.

Keating, though, held no rancor for Elora council.

“It wasn’t so much that Elora was holding me up,” he said. “Nichol didn’t want to give up the tax base. They wanted to split it up. That was no good to me. How do you put a plan on half of a farm?”

A complicated land swap between the village and the township eventually saw Keating obtain the approvals he needed to keep on expanding Elora.

Meanwhile, other developers were looking at the village, which had now begun to grow and attract outsiders. One of those was north of Keating’s developments, called North Valley Developments and also Wellington Heights.

While Keating often had numerous supporters of his plans speaking at public meetings, it seemed most of the village opposed that development.

It took nearly 20 years and an Ontario Municipal Board defeat before the developers finally got the approvals they needed to build that subdivision. They started building – and promptly went broke. It was James Keating Construction that took it over and com-

pleted the work – with hardly a murmur of complaint by anyone.

While some might take great pride in such accomplishments, Jim Keating seems humbled by all his company’s successes.

“We’ve been fortunate and that’s the way it happened to this day,” he said of the circumstances that led him into the development business “There’s people out there who prefer a local builder,” he said.

There must be a large number of them. He has built over 1,000 homes in Elora to date, and there are plans for many more.

Village life While Keating was building a big part of the village, he was also taking part in a large part of typical village life. He played goal for the Elora Rocks senior hockey team for nearly 20 years.

When asked if he was able to take time off because winter is generally the off season in the construction business, he said that was not the main factor.

That there were no other sports offered in the village at that time was the biggest limiter.

Keating was also a member of numerous service clubs, particularly the Elora Lions Club.

Continued on page 8

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The Keating Family

James Keating Construction | 50th Anniversar y

In the beginning - Station Square in Elora was a plot of land until Jim Keating turned it into an active seniors’ community featuring 52 apartments, 35 townhouses, and a community centre available to everyone.

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Matching architecture - When Jim Keating built Station Square, he made a deliberate attempt to match the housing style to the style of buildings already located in old Elora.

Station Square: Jim Keating’s biggest project, took 13 years

by David Meyer ELORA – Jim Keating is proud of his biggest building project in Elora.

It took 13 years from negotiating to buy the land until he opened the big building that was located on nearly four acres of land right in the middle of the village. It was the site of the old Canadian Pacific Railway station.

For years there was a vacant lot of about four acres just about smack in

the middle of Elora - the abandoned CPR lands.

The site, bordering on Colborne, John, Queen, and Mary Streets, once housed a train station, but passenger service to the community ended in 1957. After that, there was a daily freight train stopping there until 1963. Finally, trains ran on an “as needed” basis - and by the 1970s it could be weeks between trains.

The station’s abandonment was authorized, ac-

cording to Elora historian Steve Thorning, in 1988, and the track came up in November 1989. The last run of the train was likely around 1977.

The land sat vacant.

Long grass and weeds grew.

Pets and feral cats used it regularly. Some people liked the idea of a field in the middle of the village, and others saw it as wasted potential. There were numerous rumours about its sale from time to time, and final-

ly James Keating Construction became the buyer. It would take years, much negotiation, and an Ontario Municipal Board hearing before Keating could put a shovel in the ground.

To turn those lands into a seniors’ residential section in the community was no easy thing. Keating remembered that it took two years of negotiating with the railway company just to purchase the land. And that came after CP offered the

land to the village council, which turned down the opportunity to buy it. That caused the For Sale sign to be erected.

The sales office opened in the spring of 2001 and the shovel went into the ground on a day few people will forget. That day is called 9/11.

Between the purchase and the sales, there was a great deal of work. First, there were objections to the size of the development.

After much wrangling and an Ontario Municipal Board hearing, Keating was permitted to build 87 units, consisting of 52 apartments and 35 townhouses.

After finally getting permission to build, though, Keating had to do some soil mitigation work. Old railway stations had contaminated soil, and Ontario was setting strict rules for building on it in the early 1990s.

That was triggered by a coal Continued on page 8

Jim, Fran, Tom & Steve from

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James Keating Construction | 50th Anniversar y

istmas r h C y il m a F

Tom, Jim &

Jim & Fran

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CONGRATULATIONS & BEST WISHES TO OUR HOMETOWN COMPANY

Box 700 Mill ST. Cty Rd 18 Elora, ON, N0B 1S0 Phone: 519-8 846-5 5381 Fax: 519-8 846-5 5383

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Congratulations to Jim, Fran, your family, your long time employees, sub trades and suppliers.

It is a true accomplishment to continue to satisfy customers for 50 plus years with award winning home building and renovations.

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May you and the second generation of your family continue with your award winning building for years and years to come.

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James Keating Construction | 50th Anniversar y

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James Keating Construction | 50th Anniversar y

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Quality and service became watchwords for Jim Keating FROM PAGE FOUR He admitted he has been slowing down some of his involvement in that work over the past few years.

But the company is not slowing down any - although Jim and Fran now enjoy more time travelling. They have been to Australia, Ireland, Switzerland, Austria, and Alaska, and they also have an RV. “We’ve had some good trips,” Jim said.

“Jim’s always ready to travel,” said Fran.

The couple’s sons, Tom and Steve are now involved with Keating Construction,

but Fran, smiling, suggested “Jim’s having a little trouble letting go.”

Keating said the success of the company stems from two ideals he had when he first started in building business.

First was to provide quality products, and the second was to provide excellent after sales service work – “Make sure it get’s done.”

The result is that many Keating homeowners have always supported his further development projects in the area.

And over 50 years, that is a lot of products, and a lot of homes.

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Grand opening - The Jim Keating family gets ready to cut the ribbon at the grand opening of Station Square. From left: Joann, Tom, Fran, Jim, and Steve.

Station square took 13 years FROM PAGE FIVE tar contamination scare in Waterloo at the railway station lands there.

Keating admitted he was afraid there was coal tar on the site, but there was none.

There was some arsenic, though, so soil had to be shipped out. The arsenic came from ashes from burned wood that were dropped out the doors of the station (and at just about every home in town in the old days.)

From the beginning, Keating planned to include a community centre in the project, and he said that he constantly asked people from the village and the area what they wanted to see in it. He noted that he told most of them that he would not make promises, but, “We said, ‘Tell us what you want and we’ll try to accommodate you’.”

The community centre today has a kitchen, fireplace, lots of plush furniture, washrooms, exercise equipment, and a pool table.

The grand opening of Station Square came in May of 2003 and about 350 people attended. After that opening, sales really took off, and by the end of the fall, all the units had been sold.

Jim’s son, Tom, is heavily involved in the company today, and he said Station Square really opened doors for the company. People saw the type of infilling work that the company can do, and, “They know we’re going to do it right – and not cut corners.”

Jim added, “We’ve proved what can be done.”

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James Keating Construction | 50th Anniversar y

Friendly House provided Keating with most satisfaction

by David Meyer ELORA - The home at the corner of Keating Drive and Colborne Street here looks like most houses on the block.

But that award winning house means something special to Jim Keating. He had just returned home from London with an award from a home builders' conference and figured that he was going to relax when it came to winning awards. They were stacking up.

But, he remembers, his sons, Tom and Steve, had a brochure out when he came into the office and they told him he was not finished with home building competitions.

Keating remembers they told him, "Dad, you've got to enter this one."

It was the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation national competition for healthy housing.

Keating agreed with his sons, but he said he also realized that he would need a lot of help from his employees and sub trades.

The criteria for the competition consisted of energy efficiency, resource efficiency, occupant health, environmental responsibility, transferability and affordability. Therefore both the way and the process homes were built had to be reviewed.

Keating said when he decided to enter the competition, he called a meeting of his employees and sub contractors, and told them the house they

built would be a winner - but he needed their help. He asked everyone to come up with one innovative idea to contribute to the construction of the home.

Instead, most of them brought in several ideas.

Those ideas took environmentalism seriously, Keating remembered. One suggested using sand stone brick instead of regular bricks, because they took less energy to make than a clay brick.

Cities and towns all over Ontario had been trying a new, low water flush toilet to save water. That program replaced a lot of old toilets. Instead of using three-quarter crushed stone for the base of the basement floor, Keating had old toilets crushed and used that as drainage aggregrate instead recycled porcelain. He also used some ground glass in that mix.

Keating said that he looked at various ideas of other builders, and decided to either improve or avoid using them. He wanted as much innovation as possible.

His painter came up with VOC free (non-toxic) paints.

Pieces of leftover trim were glued together and reused. The driveway was made of concrete instead of asphalt, which is more solid and longer lasting.

An awning added to the south facing windows offered shade to the hot summer sun but was also designed to react to the wind and sun, raising and lowering itself as needed.

A water tank (cistern) in the rear yard collected rainwater for washing cloths, watering lawns, and flushing toilets. It was hooked up close to the storm outlet so that if it was full, it flowed into the catch basins instead of flooding the lawn.

That cistern had a pressure system built into the basement, so that if there was a drought and the tank went dry, the flip of a switch would allow the homeowner to use town water.

The hardwood floor was prepared off site, and then put in, so it did not offer that smell of "new" which is not healthy.

Innovations were also included for disabled people making the house both adaptable and transferable. The kitchen sink and counter and vanity could be easily moved so a wheelchair could be rolled under it and the person in the chair could work there.

Keating said without his employees and sub contractors, there was no way he would have been able to do the job he did. And the company won the national award.

"We put a lot of effort into it," he remembered.

The house was not completely designed for those who are environmentally sensitive, but for those with common allergies and their quality of life would be much increased if they lived there.

Of course, some of the innovations are not part of the Continued on next page

Congratulations on your th 50 Anniversary!

9

Proud moment - The completion of the Friendly House was Jim Keating’s proudest accomplishments as a home builder. He said all the help from employees and sub trades, allowed his company to work in innovative ways they had never used before. It won a national award from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.

Congratulations Congratulations stototo oJames James s Congratulations James Keating Keating gConstruction Construction nLtd. Ltd. .

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James Keating Construction | 50th Anniversar y

Friendly House was Keating’s most challenging and satisfying project CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE Building Code.

Keating was working in areas that were futuristic, and some were not permitted.

The "Drain Gain" system in the basement that used grey water to preheat hot water was removed and the cistern was disconnected. Keating said people, particularly children, in the area did not grow up with cisterns in their homes.

He said that someone might take a drink from a hose connected to it and drink poor water, so it had to be removed.

"We came a long way with the plumbing - but it wasn't in the code, yet," he said.

But, he added, "This is the one [project] I'm most proud of - because we were able to come up with so much new technology," he said with a

smile.

For Christmas in 1995, Jim Keating received a book prepared by his family, documenting all the work and innovation that went into the building of the Friendly House.

That book is still one of his most prized possessions.

The home was attractive to people all over the world, and was a big winner for the Keating Construction company. It did win that CMHC award A group visited from Belgium.

And a bus load of Japanese builders visited Canada and told Keating they had only two goals on the trip: see Niagara Falls and see the Friendly House.

Hardware - Jim Keating has won numerous awards over the years.

Congratulations Keating honoured by peers and Best Wishes from

Management and Staff TRITON ENGINEERING SERVICES LIMITED

Consulting Engineers 105 Queen St. W. Unit 14 Fergus 519-843-3920

Gr ee tings on y our 50 y ear s!

From John & Staff at

JP Painting Pro Kitchener 519-572-5449

Congratulations Jim, Fran, Tom and Steve on your 50th Anniversary in Business.

As your suppliers, we at Patene are proud and grateful to have shared in your success for so many years.

Jim Keating Construction Ltd. has been honoured numerous times in many different categories for hits work in the home building and renovation business.

The first one came in 1991 and was a provincial award for the best renovation costing over $100,000; The next year, the company won two awards in the same category for work costing over $50,000.

In 1994, it won again for a renovation worth over $75,000.

In 1996, the company earned the People’s Choice Award R2000, and again in 1996. That year, the compa-

Jim Keating has won this honour twice ny also won the Guelph Dominato award.

The year 1996 was a busy one for the Keating company. It also took home the Ontario New Home Warranty Program’s Superior Service Award, and won that same award

the next year for After Sales Service.

In 1999, Jim Keating was named Southwestern Ontario Builder of the Year.

He also won the Ernest Assaly Award.

In 2000, Keating earned a Certificate of Work Training.

In 2001, he was again named the Southwestern Ontario Builder of the Year.

The following year, he was named the Regional Builder of the Year.

In 2004, Keating won the R2000 Award of Excellence. That award was presented to the company in January 2005.

Congratulations to Fran and Jim Keating, their family and James Keating Construction Ltd. for providing an outstanding level of excellence and innovation in the home building profession in Ontario for over 50 years.

Derek G. Graham Limited is proud to have assisted and best wishes for the next 50 years.

We offer professional cadastral surveying, land use planning and drainage engineering services.

Derek G. Graham Limited 7669 Colborne Street East RR # 1 Fergus Ontario (519) 846-5533 http://www.grahamsurveys.on.ca/

James Keating Construction | 50th Anniversar y

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11

Jim and Fran’s Dad, Frank Gourlay

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We extend to you Jim & Fran, your family and staff congratulations and best wishes on your 50th Anniversary in home construction.

Br os x. .E

We are proud to be part of your working force for some 40 plus years Don, Bill & Staff of

Stumpf Bros.

Excavating Ltd. Oops ... some days it would be best to stay off a job site!

C

Box 38. Elora . ON

C

519.846.9912

ongratulations

ongratulations

from

WOOD & WIRE SHELVING INDUSTRIAL SHELVING ACCESSORIES INSTALLATION

575 Woodlawn Rd W | Guelph, On

519-837-2120 471 Hespeler Rd | Cambridge, On

519-624-1499

www.sarmazian.com

All The Best from

Phone/Fax: 519-669-1113 • Cell: 519-897-7346 4-90 Earl Martin Drive, Elmira, ON N3B 3L4

Saluting the achievements of James Keating Construction Ltd.

5

DESIGN BUILD

theosticgroup.com

YEARS

OF SUCCESS

Congratulations on 50 years of dedicated quality workmanship building custom homes in Elora and surrounding area.

We at The Ostic Group salute you!

YOUR PARTNER IN FINANCIAL SECURITY

Rempel Concrete Pumping Ltd.

P.O. Box 220 Breslau, Ontario N0B 1M0 Phone: (519) 648-3335 Fax: (519)648-3528

OSTIC INSURANCE BROKERS LIMITED | OSTIC FINANCIAL GROUP LIMITED

ELORA

519 846-5031

FERGUS

519 843-2540

GUELPH

519 824-3630

800 551-3651

SHELBURNE

519 925-3033

James Keating Construction | 50th Anniversar y

12

The success and longevity of James Keating Construction Ltd is a direct result of a team of loyal staff and dependable subcontractors and suppliers.

Without the dedication of so very many people, the company would not have obtained success nor be celebrating this milestone.

Thank you for your continued support!

Sincerely Jim and Fran

Keating Staff Bruce Atkinson . Ryan Berry . Jim Belonzo . Barry Fry . Jason Fry . Bob Gammie . Brian Gammie . Kim Gilkinson . Matt Granger Mark Herron . Andrew Keating . Fran Keating . Jim Keating . Steve Keating . Tom Keating . Dave Martin . Phares Martin .

Nick Mochie . Brian Nevett . Sam Rowe . Lynda Shortreed . Steve Smith

PHONE 519 • 823 • 1921 FAX 519 • 767 • 0213 EMAIL info@stairworks.ca WEBSITE www.stairworks.ca ADDRESS 295 Southgate DR. Unit # 8 Guelph, Ontario

Stairworks would like to congratulate

JAMES KEATING CONSTRUCTION LTD For 50 years of Industry Leadership Commitment and Partnership