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waist-deep water, has become the most iconic image of that However, in all fairness to them, once the city was in flood, they
event. “Sometimes, I wish it was never taken,” he was quoted performed outstanding services to the citizens. This extended
saying on the 20th anniversary of the flood, according to a right through the clean-up.”
Waterloo Record article published in 2014. “I’ve taken a lot of But residents helping one another is what most remember
ribbing over it. I went to a party once and we all go nicknames. of that day as those with boats took to the flooded streets to
They called me ‘Guppy’ for one reason or another.” provide aid, including a man in a cabin cruiser who rescued

However, according to that same story, Shuttleworth, who died many and took them to safety as floodwaters crested in the
in 1998, did raise $1,000 for flood victims by signing $2 posters early evening.
of the photo just a month after it was taken. And in the years that followed, many improvements have been
In the end, the flood affected at least 75 businesses and caused put in place in Cambridge. In 1980, city council approved an
approximately $6.7 million in damage (the equivalent of $36.9 $8.2 million flood control project that would see earth and
million in 2023), cleanup not included. concrete barriers built along the banks of the Grand River.
“One can understand the bitterness of the large number of Two years later, council also endorsed a $317,220 flood control
victims who had no notice or had inadequate notice. A flood program calling for the construction of a berm from Mill Race
warning system must be devised to give citizens reasonable Park to Dickson Street. Also, the GRCA introduced its extensive
notice of a threatening flood,” Judge Leach wrote in his report Grand River Water Management Plan which included improved
conclusions. forecasting and monitoring tools, taking into consideration the
localized effects of climate change.
“I have been critical of many persons in this chapter, and I do so
in the hope that city officials will not be so remiss in their duties “We don’t know how severe localized events will be,” Stephanie
again. I have been critical of the City Engineering Department, Shifflett, GRAC Water Resources Engineer, was quoted in 2014
the City Administrator, the Police, and the Fire Department, for in the GrandActions, newsletter. “We recognize that the climate
the role they played in the flood warning system. is changing, and we are including that in our decision making.”

Cambridge also had its share of fires...

1995 Fire destroys the 1974 The Iroquois Hotel
on Main Street at
historically significant Wellington is destroyed
Silknit site on Queen Street by fire on April 6. Loss
on Sept. 26. The stone mill set at $400,000.
building had originally
been built in 1864 for
Randall-Farr and Co. Two
teen boys later charged in
the $700,000 blaze.

1983 In January, fire
destroys Freddie’s
Arson ruled as cause of January fire that 1996 Tavern, formerly the
gutted the former Hedstrom factory and part Sulphur Springs Hotel,
of the former Clare Bros. Foundry on King one of Preston’s
Street. Damage so severe the remnants of historic mineral
the building must be pulled down. springs hotels.

www.cambridgechamber.com Summer 2023 7