With previous owners linked to Sudbury’s first mayor and the carpenter who worked on Bell Mansion, 249 Cedar St. carries a great deal of local historic significance.
The building was erected in approximately 1906.
At least, that’s how far back the city’s records go for the building. Municipal Property Assessment Corporation records cite it as being built in 1909.
Its first owner (or shortly thereafter) was Alexander Fournier, the nephew of Sudbury’s first mayor, Stephen Fournier.
Sudbury.com was drawn to the building’s history earlier this month when a reader pointed out its historic significance when the nine-unit residential building was put up for sale through Good Manors Real Estate Group at $627,900.
Prior to its previous listing in 2022, the building was still being used as apartments. Since that time, it has been largely gutted down to its studs.
When Sudbury.com reached out to Good Manors Real Estate Group, they said there was an accepted offer and that the prospective buyer didn’t want a story written about it. As such, they were unable to participate.
With the help of Greater Sudbury Public LIberary history librarian Kristen Bertrand, Sudbury.com was able to figure out quite a bit about the historic downtown apartment building.
It wasn’t an easy task due to overlapping names and misinformation reported over the years.
Sudbury archival materials include three people named Alexander Fournier, including the mayor’s son and nephew, plus his nephew’s son, Alexander Fournier Jr.
Complicating matters further is that another of the building’s historic owners, Campbell Girdwood, had a recurring family name, with at least four people sharing the same moniker.
Further, there were two apartment buildings called Fournier Apartments, one of which owned by Stephen Fournier at 74 Beech St., and the other owned by Alexander Fournier (the mayor’s nephew) at 249 Cedar St.
Past reports have conflated these people, but Sudbury.com was able to discern a local history through original source material and earliest-available newspaper articles.
We’ll begin with the first family connection to 249 Cedar St., Sudbury’s first mayor, Stephen Fournier.
Sudbury’s first mayor, Stephen Fournier
In a memorial story published in the Feb. 13, 1929 edition of The Sudbury Star following his death, Stephen Fournier was credited as “Sudbury’s grand old man.”
A member of Sudbury’s “vanishing band of pioneers,” Fournier died at the age of 76 after a weeklong illness.
He was born at Trois Postoles, Quebec, and studied bookkeeping and clerking at a store in Montreal. He then followed the C.P.R. to Chalk River and North Bay before settling in Sudbury on March 4, 1884, to take over as storekeeper for the C.P.R., when “Sudbury had not even reached the stage of a hamlet.”
“Aside from the fact that Canada’s transcontinental line was passing through it, did there appear little promise of sustained growth,” the Star’s 1929 memorial story read.
In 1885, Fournier was elected as McKim Township’s first reeve, which he held for seven successive years, and took over as mayor of Sudbury when it hit township in 1893. He was re-elected in 1896.
From that, he became postmaster and then town clerk and treasurer.
In addition to mayoral duties, he was on the committee that brought about the construction of Ste. Anne’s Parish Hall in 1922.
He took residence at the corner of Beech and Ignatius Streets in downtown Sudbury at a four-unit apartment building he named Fournier Apartments.
Among his children was Alex, of Coniston, though this isn’t the Alex who’d go on to own 249 Cedar St. That was the first mayor’s nephew.
Alexander Fournier, the original owner of 249 Cedar St.
Like his uncle, Stephen Fournier, Alexander Fournier died following a one-week illness.
Making no mistake as to which of the three Alexander Fourniers owned 249 Cedar St., a memorial story published in the Aug. 8, 1941, edition of The Sudbury Star cites this address as the site of his residence and death at the age of 70.
He was best known as the owner of A. Fournier Insurance, located at one point at 11 Elm St. E. The first mention of the company Sudbury.com would find was in the 1918-19 Vernon’s Sudbury and Copper Cliff Directory. His memorial story notes that he was in the insurance business since 1896.
Alexander first came to Sudbury at the age of 16 to work with his uncle, Stephen Fournier (Sudbury’s first mayor), at a store/post office he ran at the time.
After three years, he relocated to the West Indies to work with another uncle and became interested in life insurance. In Kingston, Jamaica, he met his future wife, Viola Levett. The two relocated to Sudbury immediately after their marriage, where Alexander started his insurance business.
His first wife died in 1916, and Alexander married the sister of his deceased wife, Minna Soloman, in 1919. She came from Kingston, Jamaica, to Sudbury.
During Alexander’s wedding to Minna, he was supported during a close-knit wedding by his uncle, Stephen Fournier.
“Mr. and Mrs. Fournier left on the ten o’clock train Sunday evening for Toronto, and on their return will take up residence on Cedar Street,” a March 19, 1919, wedding notice reported.
In addition to the insurance business, Alexander is credited with serving on various local boards and service clubs. He was survived by his wife and eight children.
The history of 249 Cedar St.
From what Sudbury.com has been able to find, it’s unclear whether Alexander Fournier was the first owner of 249 Cedar St. or merely one of its first owners.
Built in approximately 1906 (per the City of Greater Sudbury’s earliest available records, 1909 per Municipal Property Assessment Corporation records), 249 Cedar St. was cited as Alexander’s address as early as 1914.
By 1930, the address was named 249 Apts.
Alex Fournier Sr. was listed as residing in Unit 2, while Alex Fournier Jr. was listed as living in Unit 1. V. S. Fournier was in Unit 3, whose initials align with Sr.’s child, Viviane S. Fournier, though this detail isn’t made clear in the Vernon’s Sudbury and Copper Cliff Directory.
By 1933, 249 Cedar St. was renamed Fournier Apartments.
Alex Fournier was listed at Unit 2 until his death in 1941.
Alex Fournier Jr. remained in the building for another couple of years.
By 1946-47, Campbell Girdwood became a resident of Unit 1, which Alex Fournier vacated, and it was renamed Girdwood Apartments, now six units in size from its previous three.
By the 1960s, it was listed as being nine units in size, which is what it remains today.
The owner of Girdwood Apartments
Despite 249 Cedar St. changing hands in the 1940s and being re-named Girdwood Apartments, it retained its Fournier connection.
The property’s new owner, Campbell Girdwood, married Violet Fournier, the daughter of Alexander Fournier (the Alexander who was the nephew of Sudbury’s first mayor and owner of 249 Cedar St.) in 1940.
Campbell Girdwood’s identically-named father was born in Glasgow, Scotland, on Dec. 20, 1870, and relocated to Sudbury alongside two friends in 1907. A skilled cabinet maker and contractor, he built the fine woodwork in St. Andrew’s Church and the Bell Mansion.
The Campbell Girdwood of 249 Cedar St. is referred to as “Campbell Girdwood The Third” in his father’s Jan. 28, 1953, newspaper memorial story.
A February 1966 edition of Inco Triangle described the Campbell Girdwood of 249 Cedar St. as “a man whose tremendous enthusiasm for machinery led him to become a ‘mechanical doctor’ in a highly specialized way.”
An Inco pensioner, he retired as master mechanic of Clarabelle Open Pit.
He was born in Glasgow and relocated with his mother and sisters to join his father (Campbell Girdwood The Second), who’d arrived in Sudbury two years previous (1907) and had established himself as a building contractor.
They lived in the first house to be built on Morris Street (In 1914, they were listed at 398 Morris St.).
The Campbell Girdwood of 249 Cedar St. worked in Sudbury and Copper Cliff before moving down south to Detroit to work at the Dodge Motor Company. He returned to Sudbury in 1924, worked in the mining industry and dabbled in amateur boxing and served as a trainer for the Sudbury Wolves.
Vernon’s Sudbury and Copper Cliff Directory only goes up to 1970, at which time C. Girdwood was still listed as a resident of 249 Cedar St., Unit 2, and it was still called Girdwood Apartments. In a Jan. 11, 1978, edition of Northern Life, it’s noted that he and his wife had relocated to Ramsey View Court.
Recent history and future for 249 Cedar St.
249 Apts., Fournier Apartments and then Girdwood Apartments, the now-nameless apartment building beside the Ontario Mine Rescue building is vacant.
The earliest Google Street view from July 2009 shows a building with its parking spots nearly full. There’s a similar view in April 2010, with all subsequent images from May 2012 onward showing fewer vehicles in the parking spots.
Painted white as recently as July 2021, a walk past the building this week showed it to be painted dark grey and most of its windows now boarded up.
Real estate images from its listing earlier this month show its interior to be largely gutted down to its studs.
“This property is ready for a transformative renovation that will unlock its true potential, offering both short-term and long-term gains for the right investor,” a real estate listing noted.
While municipal records go back to 1906, Municipal Property Assessment Corporation records indicate that it was built in 1909. The latest building permit they have on record was a 2009 permit to replace shingles/roofing.
A building permit issued by the city is still posted to a rear window dated Oct. 18, 2022, granting permission to alter the building’s exterior to accommodate a fire escape repair. It was slated to be revoked by Oct. 31, 2023, if work hadn’t been seriously commenced.
A City of Greater Sudbury order to comply has been posted to the building’s front door, dated Oct. 24, 2024, which notes, “foundation repair work has been started at 249 Cedar without the benefit of a building permit.”
The order had a compliance date of Nov. 28, 2024.
Since that time, the building was listed for sale and received an accepted offer.
With the new owner declining to participate in this story, it’s unclear what the future has in store for this at least 115-year-old downtown Sudbury nine-unit apartment building with a rich history with strong ties to the city’s first mayor.
Update: After this story was initially published, Rick Fournier, grandson of Alex Fournier Jr., sent Sudbury.com an article with additional context. The article, pulled from "An Inventory and Guide to Historic Buildings in Sudbury," notes that 249 Cedar St. was constructed in 1907 by a Toronto contractor named Healey, and was designed by W. Harland.
Tyler Clarke covers city hall and political affairs for Sudbury.com.