Anyone who lived in St. Catharines between the 1920s and the 1990s knows the name Diana Sweets. It was a restaurant on St. Paul Street with ornate gumwood booths lining its interior. It was in the Globe and Mail this morning, as the location has been renovated into a pizza shop and a music hall.
What remains of Diana Sweets interior has left the building long ago. It went to the Harley-Davidson motorcycle store just off Glendale Avenue in Niagara-on-the-Lake. It is a strange experience to see this reconstructed interior. And stranger to experience it to the smell of motorcycle tires and leather jackets.
Back to St. Paul Street, the revitalization of this section of St. Paul Street includes Helliwell Hall - a brewery and concert hall. It is at 107 St. Paul Street. Downtown St. Catharines is now part of Brock University, with the Performing Arts Centre, student housing and apartments, and student pubs and restaurants. No longer a bustling downtown of a mid-20th century town.
Here are my pictures from the Harley Store site. Everything seemed small in comparison to the size of tables and booths now. It was familiar, though. We went there on Saturdays with our grandmother who treated us to ice cream and french fries. Or was it ice cream or french fries?
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