PRESERVE BURGESS REFRESHMENTS
80 Years of Leamington History Deserve to Be Protected
A Petition to the Municipality of Leamington for Official Heritage Recognition and Preservation
Established 1946,   403 Erie Street S. , Leamington, Ontario

There are places in every community that become so familiar we sometimes forget how much they mean to us. They're part of growing up, spending time with people we love and making memories that stay with us long after the years have passed. For generations of Leamington residents, Burgess Refreshments has been one of those places.

Think back to a summer evening at the Leamington dock. Maybe you were there with your parents when you were young, enjoying an ice cream before heading down to the water. Years later, you might have returned with your own children, passing along a little tradition without ever giving it much thought. It's those ordinary experiences that become some of our most treasured memories, and the places where they happened become part of our personal history.

Since 1946, Burgess Refreshments has been a familiar presence along Leamington's waterfront. Its foot-long hot dogs, ice cream cones and traditional refreshments have served generations of customers. For some people, the memories go back to childhood. For others, Burgess is a familiar stop whenever they return to Leamington. And for those discovering our waterfront for the first time, it's a chance to experience a tradition that began long before they arrived.

What makes Burgess particularly special is that this connection isn't simply sentimental. Its place in Leamington's history is documented.

Burgess grew alongside a waterfront that was once closely associated with commercial fishing, shipping and transportation. Alfred Paul Burgess, a lifelong Leamington resident, operated Burgess Refreshments and Burgess Baits near the dock. These were businesses rooted in the everyday life of the community, serving the people who lived and worked here, along with those who came to enjoy the lake.

Around 1981, Paul Burgess sold Burgess Refreshments to Bill Baird and his partners, Bob McCormick and George Peterson. Baird had visited Burgess as a boy, never imagining that one day he'd own the establishment himself. When the new owners took over, they made a conscious decision to keep the Burgess name because of the reputation it had earned.

There's something particularly meaningful about that history. A young customer grew up to become an owner, and when the business changed hands, its identity was worth preserving. That's the kind of connection between people and a place that gives local history its human significance.

On July 2, 1987, the Windsor Star published a feature titled In Leamington, Burgess Means Cones, Hotdogs. The newspaper referred to Burgess as a landmark nearly four decades ago. It described the establishment's popularity among local high school students and waterfront visitors, documenting how deeply it had become associated with life around the dock.

That recognition didn't disappear with time.

In 2017, municipal council records documented Burgess Refreshments' business name in connection with a Seacliff Park concession agreement. In 2022, the municipality's own Waterfront Destination Master Plan identified Burgess among the waterfront's long-established businesses. During public consultation, residents specifically expressed their desire to see the historic establishment preserved, including one submission calling for Burgess to be incorporated into future waterfront development.

In 2024, Burgess was named a finalist for the Leamington District Chamber of Commerce's Hospitality and Tourism Award. That same year, Alfred Paul Burgess passed away at the age of 83. His connection to the waterfront remains part of the establishment's documented history.

Now, in 2026, Burgess celebrates its 80th anniversary.

Eight decades represent an extraordinary amount of change. The waterfront has evolved, businesses have come and gone, and generations of Leamington families have grown up. Through those changes, the Burgess name has remained part of the community's identity.

And that brings us to something worth thinking seriously about.

What will future generations have left of the Leamington we remember?

Our waterfront is undergoing significant redevelopment, and improvements can bring important opportunities to the community. But a community's character comes from more than the things it builds today. It also comes from recognizing what previous generations have left behind.

When an old establishment disappears, the memories people made there don't simply vanish. But something tangible is lost. A familiar place where those memories began is no longer there to visit, and younger generations lose the opportunity to experience that connection for themselves.

An ice cream stand might seem like an unlikely candidate for heritage recognition to someone unfamiliar with its history. Yet heritage isn't determined by how expensive or impressive a building appears. Ordinary places can carry extraordinary meaning because of the people who gathered there and the role those places played in their community.

Burgess has a documented history stretching across generations. Its longstanding connection to the Leamington dock, its recognition as a landmark in a 1987 newspaper feature, and the public support recorded during waterfront planning provide substantial reasons for a formal heritage assessment.

Ontario's heritage legislation recognizes that a property's significance can come from its historical associations and its relationship to the surrounding community. Burgess deserves to be evaluated on those grounds.

What We're Asking Leamington Council to Do
We, the undersigned, call upon the Municipality of Leamington to formally assess Burgess Refreshments, located at 403 Erie Street South, for heritage designation under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act.

We ask Council to commission a thorough evaluation of the property's cultural heritage value, including its historical associations, its longstanding relationship with the Leamington dock and its significance to the character of the waterfront. If the property meets the provincial designation criteria, we ask Council to proceed with formal designation and identify the heritage attributes that warrant protection.

We further request that the municipality work with the property owners, business operators and community to explore practical commitments that will preserve the Burgess name, its historic identity and its continuing place in Leamington's waterfront future.

This is an opportunity to make heritage preservation part of waterfront development while respecting the history that helped give this community its identity.

A Tradition Worth Passing On
Perhaps the greatest measure of Burgess's significance isn't found in any newspaper article or municipal document. It's found in the memories people carry.

Think about the people who once stood beside you at Burgess. Some may still be part of your everyday life. Others may have moved away, grown older or passed on. Yet a familiar place can bring those memories back with remarkable clarity, reminding us of moments we didn't realize would become so important.

There's real value in being able to return to a place from your childhood and find something familiar still waiting there. There's even greater value in being able to share it with someone who wasn't there the first time.

That's an experience worth protecting.

Burgess Refreshments has been part of Leamington's waterfront since 1946. Its history deserves to be examined, acknowledged and, where the heritage criteria are met, formally protected.

Please sign this petition and share it with your family, friends and anyone who has memories of Burgess Refreshments. If you have a personal story about Burgess, consider sharing it with your signature so that those memories become part of the public record of why this place deserves recognition.

The people who built Leamington's history gave future generations something worth remembering. We now have an opportunity to help preserve a part of it.

Eighty years of memories. Eighty years of tradition. A place worth preserving for the generations still to come.

Help preserve Burgess Refreshments as a recognized part of Leamington's heritage.