{"id":1459,"date":"2019-06-08T23:45:19","date_gmt":"2019-06-09T03:45:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/?p=1459"},"modified":"2019-06-08T23:45:19","modified_gmt":"2019-06-09T03:45:19","slug":"maurice-rollins-success-and-struggles-span-60-year-career","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/?p=1459","title":{"rendered":"Maurice Rollins: Success and struggles span 60-year career"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Dave Flaherty\/Active Senior’s Digest<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
The Journey’s End chain began with motels but moved on to hotels, like this high-rise and all-suite hotel. (Photo courtesy wallbridgehouse.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When looking for an example of a \u2018self-made man\u2019, one can look directly to Maurice Rollins.
\nThe tale of Rollins\u2019s journey into construction began in 1955.
\n\u201cI had no money. I started from nothing,\u201d he says.
\nHe built his reputation by starting off with semi-detached houses and apartments.
\n\u201cI did a lot of commercial work as well, such as schools and government buildings.\u201d
\nOver time, his company Maurice H. Rollins Construction Ltd. became one of the most reputable and lively builders in the province.
\n\u201cWe were averaging 300 or something houses a year. Not a lot of builders were doing that I can tell you,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

At his peak, Rollins was not only active in Ontario but also in European countries such as England and France.
\nHe incorporated some groundbreaking ideas into his building practices at the time.
\n\u201cI was the first or second one to do wall sections. All of the houses when they went out on the site, the walls were already on the truck, so you didn\u2019t have to fool around with putting two-by-fours on the sub floor.\u201d
\nThe Canadian government caught wind of this technique and asked him to showcase it at an annual conference at London\u2019s Crystal Place.
\n\u201cPrincess Margaret was there. I didn\u2019t know whether I should shake her hand or bow. But builders from other countries became interested in what we were doing.\u201d
\nThis experience opened a whole new chain of opportunities for Rollins, but ultimately, it became too much for him.
\n\u201cFinally, I just stopped it and said I\u2019m not doing it anymore. In 1980, when I sold all my land. I had Belleville tied up. I don\u2019t think anyone could build a house in Belleville, except for on a private lot,\u201d he recalls.
\nHis focus then shifted to hotels and motels.
\n\u201cThe reason I got into the hotel business is when you rent something out you get paid by the month, but in the hotel business, you get paid every day. It seemed to be a quicker return.”
\nIn 1978, he founded the Journey’s End hotel chain, building the original location in Belleville.
\nThe chain would expand to nearly 140 across Canada and northern U.S.
\nAccording to Rollins, the company once built 18 in a single year.
\n\u201cWe built them all and managed them all. I had about 3,500 employees. Between 1984 and 1990, we were the largest hotel company in Canada, bigger than Holiday Inn and everybody else.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Maurice Rollins is proud of the garden and grounds of his large house near Belleville, Ontario. He often spends his summer afternoons snipping shrubs and clipping grass.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The recession of the early-1990s hit many business owners hard, and Rollins was not impervious to the effects.
\nHe took the company public in 1987. Stocks began at $10 a share, later reaching a high of $21 per share.
\nHowever, the price plunged down to $1.50 per share in the early 90s, before rebounding to $7 a share when the chain was sold off in 1999.<\/p>\n

\u201cThings were a little bit shaky I can tell you that,\u201d Rollins states.
\nStrife is nothing new to Rollins either as he struggled with mental health issues for a good part of his life.
\n\u201cI had very serious depression which started off in the last year of high school,\u201d he says.
\nAlthough he was one of the top students in his class, the depression made him very unsure about his future.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Pictured here is the first house Maurice Rollins built for himself and his wife. It was the first of more than 8,500 housing units he constructed in eastern Ontario, including townhouses and apartment buildings. This house stands on Bridge Street East in Belleville.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThey said you could be an engineer, you could do this or do that, but I just couldn\u2019t do it.\u201d
\nEven as his construction company was flourishing, his depression lingered.
\n\u201cI had shock treatments in the Kingston Hospital at various times over the years. I remember one time I had the shock treatments, I drove back to my office, and I didn\u2019t remember anybody,”\u201d Rollins explains. \u201cI had people come in who I\u2019d known for years, and I didn\u2019t know who the hell they were.\u201d
\nWhen the depression would become too much to handle, Rollins says he would often rid himself of any \u201cemotional or mental work.\u201d
\n\u201cI had to get rid of that all together for two or three weeks by physically working, and then I\u2019d come around.\u201d
\nRollins would document his struggles with depression in a biography written by Belleville-area historian Orland French several years ago.
\nHe made the fitting decision to donate all revenue from book sales to the local branch of the Canadian Mental Health Association.
\nPhilanthropy has been a significant part of Rollins\u2019 life.
\n\u201cThe biggest one I do is the United Way of Hastings and Prince Edward. I\u2019ve been matching up to $100,000 each year for quite some time,\u201d he says. \u201cI like United Way because they cover about 70 different organizations when they give the money out.\u201d
\nHe has also made significant contributions to hospitals in Oshawa, Trenton, and Belleville.
\nAnd while most 91-year-olds are not getting up for work in the morning, Rollins is in the office by 7:30 a.m. every day.
\n\u201cI\u2019ve always done it, and I just want to keep it up,\u201d he explains.
\nAlthough he doesn\u2019t have plans to slow down too much, he revealed he recently sold his 10,000 sq. ft. house he built himself 33 years ago.
\nHe shared the house with his wife, Marilyn, who sadly passed away in April.<\/p>\n

Rollins plans on moving into a condominium, which has a bit of personal story attached to it.
\n\u201cThis is the best building in Belleville. It\u2019s 87 units, it\u2019s on the water, and has been there for 40 years,\u201d he states. \u201cIt took other builders 30 years to come down and build in the same area. Crazily enough 40 years ago, I built this building, and now I\u2019m moving in.\u201d
\nEarlier this year, Rollins was officially recognized by the province, receiving an Ontario Medal for Good Citizenship.
\nThe award is Ontario\u2019s second-highest honour after the Order of Ontario and recognizes individuals \u201cfor their exceptional long-term efforts and outstanding contributions to the well-being of their communities.\u201d
\nIt was a great honour for Rollins.
\n\u201cIt was quite an occasion. They do everything up so extravagantly. I was quite impressed with it.\u201d
\nAsked if he has any advice for someone getting into the construction business, he notes nobody is \u201cdoing it the easy way.\u201d
\n“Putting up 2x4s on a sub floor. They\u2019re not doing the way we did. I don\u2019t understand that,\u201d he jokes.
\nOn a serious note, Rollins says he is unsure if nowadays it\u2019s possible to build a company from the ground up like he did.
\n\u201cThe biggest problem would be that the land is all tied up with the big builders. I don\u2019t know how a guy would really get started today.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Dave Flaherty\/Active Senior’s Digest When looking for an example of a \u2018self-made man\u2019, one can look directly to Maurice Rollins. The tale of Rollins\u2019s […] Read More<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1465,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nMaurice Rollins: Success and struggles span 60-year career - Active Senior's Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/?p=1459\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Maurice Rollins: Success and struggles span 60-year career - Active Senior's Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Dave Flaherty\/Active Senior’s Digest When looking for an example of a \u2018self-made man\u2019, one can look directly to Maurice Rollins. The tale of Rollins\u2019s […] Read More\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/?p=1459\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Active Senior's Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-06-09T03:45:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/mauricerollins5.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"620\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"550\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"active\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/#website\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/\",\"name\":\"Active Senior's Digest\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"http:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/?p=1459#primaryimage\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/mauricerollins5.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/mauricerollins5.jpg\",\"width\":620,\"height\":550},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/?p=1459#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/?p=1459\",\"name\":\"Maurice Rollins: Success and struggles span 60-year career - Active Senior's Digest\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/?p=1459#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2019-06-09T03:45:19+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-06-09T03:45:19+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/#\/schema\/person\/0afb1f9f2b1987c4466bd36c4ecf6e6e\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/?p=1459#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/?p=1459\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/?p=1459#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"http:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Maurice Rollins: Success and struggles span 60-year career\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/#\/schema\/person\/0afb1f9f2b1987c4466bd36c4ecf6e6e\",\"name\":\"active\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/#personlogo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6943e03346fb73ef2c47ed71cc41f7a5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6943e03346fb73ef2c47ed71cc41f7a5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"active\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Maurice Rollins: Success and struggles span 60-year career - Active Senior's Digest","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/?p=1459","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Maurice Rollins: Success and struggles span 60-year career - Active Senior's Digest","og_description":"By Dave Flaherty\/Active Senior’s Digest When looking for an example of a \u2018self-made man\u2019, one can look directly to Maurice Rollins. The tale of Rollins\u2019s […] Read More","og_url":"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/?p=1459","og_site_name":"Active Senior's Digest","article_published_time":"2019-06-09T03:45:19+00:00","og_image":[{"width":620,"height":550,"url":"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/mauricerollins5.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"active","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"http:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/#website","url":"http:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/","name":"Active Senior's Digest","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"http:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-CA"},{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/?p=1459#primaryimage","inLanguage":"en-CA","url":"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/mauricerollins5.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/mauricerollins5.jpg","width":620,"height":550},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/?p=1459#webpage","url":"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/?p=1459","name":"Maurice Rollins: Success and struggles span 60-year career - Active Senior's Digest","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/?p=1459#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2019-06-09T03:45:19+00:00","dateModified":"2019-06-09T03:45:19+00:00","author":{"@id":"http:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/#\/schema\/person\/0afb1f9f2b1987c4466bd36c4ecf6e6e"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/?p=1459#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-CA","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/?p=1459"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/?p=1459#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"http:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Maurice Rollins: Success and struggles span 60-year career"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"http:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/#\/schema\/person\/0afb1f9f2b1987c4466bd36c4ecf6e6e","name":"active","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"http:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/#personlogo","inLanguage":"en-CA","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6943e03346fb73ef2c47ed71cc41f7a5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6943e03346fb73ef2c47ed71cc41f7a5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"active"},"url":"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/?author=1"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/mauricerollins5.jpg","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p78TCb-nx","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1459"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1459"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1459\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1468,"href":"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1459\/revisions\/1468"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1465"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1459"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1459"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1459"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}