Cullen Garden and Miniature Village, Whitby,ON

Cullen Gardens & Miniature Village was a popular tourist attraction in

Whitby, Ontario Whitby is a town in Durham Region. Whitby is located in Southern Ontario east of Ajax and west of Oshawa, on the north shore of Lake Ontario and is home to the headquarters of Durham Region. It had a population of 138,501 at the 2021 census. It ...

, Canada. Officially opened in May 1980 by founder Len Cullen and his wife, Connie, the Gardens were a major tourist attraction in Whitby for 25 years.

Features and attractions

Cullen Gardens combined the natural beauty of floral displays and gardens, along with a unique southern Ontario-themed miniature village. The miniature village included many houses and

trains In rail transport, a train (from Old French , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles that run along a railway track and transport people or freight. Trains are typically pulled or pushed by locomotives (often know ...

that would travel around and between the houses. Other features included radio-controlled miniature boats. It was an entertaining attraction for both children and adults. In 1983, the Miniature Village served as the filming location for an episode of the Canadian television series ''

The Littlest Hobo ''The Littlest Hobo'' is a Canadian television series (French title: ''Le Vagabond'') based upon a 1958 well-known film of the same name directed by Charles R. Rondeau. The series first aired from 1963 to 1965 in syndication, and was revived for ...

'', entitled "Small Pleasures" (season 4, episode 16). During the Winter holiday season, Cullen Gardens was host to the Festival of Lights, which featured huge displays of Christmas lights throughout the grounds, often decorating large topiaries.

Closure and redevelopment

On 1 January 2006, Cullen Gardens and Miniature Village closed. The land, however, has since been purchased by the Town of Whitby, to remain in the public domain as a

municipal park An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a municipal park (North America) or a public park, public open space, or municipal gardens ( UK), is a park in cities and other incorporated places that offer recreation and green space to resi ...

. There has been speculation that the property may link up with the Heber Down

conservation area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...

. At the time of its closure, the park was co-owned by Sue Cullen-Green and Bryan Green. The miniature Village no longer exists at the site and the model buildings were sold to the nearby City of

Oshawa Oshawa ( , also ; 2021 population 175,383; CMA 415,311) is a city in Ontario, Canada, on the Lake Ontario shoreline. It lies in Southern Ontario, approximately east of Downtown Toronto. It is commonly viewed as the eastern anchor of the G ...

for $234,000. Oshawa later put them up for sale again rather than opening an attraction of its own, citing budgetary austerity. The golf course formerly attached to Cullen Gardens has ceased to operate The miniature buildings were purchased by the

Niagara Parks Commission The Niagara Parks Commission, commonly shortened to Niagara Parks, is an agency of the Government of Ontario which maintains the Ontario shoreline of the Niagara River. History The Commission was founded in 1885 and charged with preserving and ...

in 2012. Many of the miniature buildings are now on display at the NPC's Botanical Gardens in Niagara Falls, Canada. In November 2011, the Town entered into a purchase and sale agreement with Auberge et Spa Le Nordik Inc. of

Chelsea, Quebec Chelsea is a municipality located immediately north of Gatineau, Quebec, Canada, and about north of Ottawa. Chelsea is located within Canada's National Capital Region. It is the seat of Les Collines-de-l'Outaouais Regional County Municipali ...

. Le Nordik bought the main building and 3 hectares of land. They intend to use the main building and outdoor area to build a year-round heat therapy spa with two restaurants, a retail boutique and a small conference area. The remaining land was designated as open space and parkland, known as Cullen Central Park. The deal closed in 2013 and the spa was supposed to open in 2015. On October 6, 2022, Thermëa spa opened on the site, after multiple delays."Thermea Spa Village to open in Whitby October 6" September 2, 2022.

Retrieved October 21, 2022.

References

External links

Official website
(defunct, link via

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

) {{coord, 43.9150, N, 78.9664, W, display=title 2006 disestablishments in Ontario Miniature parks Parks in Ontario Gardens in Canada Buildings and structures in Whitby, Ontario

Features and attractions

Closure and redevelopment

See also

References

Further reading

External links