{"id":43034,"date":"2025-05-27T17:14:39","date_gmt":"2025-05-27T16:14:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/?p=43034"},"modified":"2025-05-27T17:14:39","modified_gmt":"2025-05-27T16:14:39","slug":"ihbc-features-heritage-from-the-global-doorstep-preserving-the-past-rethinking-the-future-students-reimagine-ontarios-historic-buildings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/?p=43034","title":{"rendered":"IHBC features \u2018Heritage from the Global doorstep\u2019: Preserving the past, rethinking the future – \u2026 students reimagine Ontario\u2019s historic buildings"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

image for illustration: Former Train station (Kingston, Ontario)<\/a> by Doug Kerr from Albany, NY, United States, CC BY-SA 2.0<\/a>, via Wikimedia Commons<\/sub><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arts & Science art history students are offering fresh ideas, narratives and out of the box thinking for how to best preserve and promote some of the province\u2019s most treasured structures, reports the University of Toronto.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

University of Toronto writes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Students from the fourth-year Canadian art history seminar, Studies in Canadian Architecture and Landscapes: Hidden Canada, have completed a semester-long research project in partnership with the?Ontario Heritage Trust?(OHT). Taught by Jessica Mace, an assistant professor, teaching stream with the Faculty of Arts & Science\u2019s Department of Art History, the course explores how the built environment in Canada has been written, studied and preserved, examining narratives that could potentially be revisited and updated. \u2018After seeing what the students did in the last iteration in 2023, we were eager to expand the pool of sites and really tap into the brain power and creativity of our undergrads,\u2019 says Mace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This year, students were assigned 10 different buildings held by the OHT. Some of the properties included the?Barnum House?in Grafton ON, the?Niagara Apothecary?in Niagara-on-the-Lake, and the Duff-Baby House in Windsor. They presented their research at a public forum at the Ontario Heritage Centre building last month, where they shared their ideas with OHT staff. \u2018Our goal was to present potential future uses or revisions to how these sites are presented,\u2019 says Kate Rozumey, a second-year art history student and a member of Trinity College, who also completed a previous undergraduate degree in biology and psychology at the University of Toronto Mississauga. She studied the Barnum House, which was built between 1819 and 1821 by Eliakim Barnum. It\u2019s considered the one of the earliest examples of neoclassical architecture in Canada.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Architecture was definitely what initially drew me to the Barnum House,\u2019 she says. \u2018It\u2019s impressive that it has survived for such a long time with its fa\u00e7ade largely unaltered. But the story of its connection to heritage in Ontario, how it was acquired by the Architectural Conservancy Ontario (ACO) and opened as a museum in 1940, was something I wanted to learn more about.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She recommends the building shift from being a museum to becoming a venue for local community events. \u2018Perhaps less frequent events like Open Doors would more reliably draw an audience,\u2019 she says. \u2018I also suggest getting in touch with local history organizations and the ACO to see if they have any interest in having events there.\u2019 She also recommends publishing some of the research the OHT has previously done to make some of this local historical information more accessible to the public. Nell Girardin, a fourth-year student in the art history specialist program, and a member of University College, researched the Duff-Baby House. Built in 1798 on the south shore of the Detroit River in the town of Sandwich, which is now part of Windsor, it\u2019s considered one of the province\u2019s oldest homes. \u2018What I love most is the real significance this house held within that community as a space that was once dedicated to healthcare,\u2019 says Girardin, referring to the period in the early 1900s when the home was occupied by Dr. William Beasley, the town\u2019s first physician.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Beasley would invite local families to his home for a Christmas tea event, welcoming hundreds of residents to his home for food and drinks during the holiday season. \u2018People in the community loved him,\u2019 she says. \u2018And I loved imagining this house as it was back then \u2013 a real cornerstone of the community \u2013 and I wanted to bring that history back to the house.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With that in mind, Girardin recommends the site\u2019s outside property be used as a public park to bring more visitors to the site. Or, it could also be converted into a community garden, an initiative that could help bring the community together. \u2018On the interior, I recommend as much be done as possible to restore the 1920s appearance of the house,\u2019 she says. \u2018Finally, I want to reinstate the Beasley Christmas tea tradition. I find this to be another really great initiative to bring people together, and I also propose that it be used to give back during the holidays by transforming it into a place for a food or toy drive.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Caitlin Rapley, a fourth-year art history student and a member of University College researched the Niagara Apothecary \u2014 an authentic museum restoration of an 1869 pharmacy as part of a practice that operated in Niagara-on-the-Lake from 1820 to 1964. \u2018The apothecary is a rare site with stunningly preserved heritage interiors, substantial collections and extensive history,\u2019 she says. \u2018What I enjoyed most about studying the site is the opportunity to explore its 144-year history as a pharmacy and its 50-plus years in operation as a heritage museum in Ontario.\u2019 Among her recommendations, Rapley suggests forming a new stakeholder collaboration between OHT and Ontario College of Pharmacists to update the site’s vision and goals for 2025. \u2018I also recommend seeking a future partnership with an academic museum studies, curatorial, or heritage cultural management program at a local institution to support collections analysis, help identify new exhibition opportunities, and develop a modern interpretive framework,\u2019 says Rapley. Rapley also envisions a retail strategy that includes locally made, heritage-inspired goods and souvenirs. \u2018This could enhance visitor engagement, as tourists often spend more time in the space while interacting with staff and it would also contribute revenue for the museum,\u2019 she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

David Leonard, OHT\u2019s senior marketing and communications specialist, was thrilled with all of the students\u2019 work, and inspired by their passion that he saw first-hand while assisting students at OHT\u2019s archives, and while attending Mace\u2019s classes. \u2018I was impressed with how the students were thinking about programming and business opportunities, and how these places fit within the needs of their communities, and how they can better fit within what people need from the Ontario Heritage Trust,\u2019 he says. \u2018I think there will be some very feasible ideas here that we’ll be sharing with our property operations and stewardship team,\u2019 he says. \u2018And who knows, maybe some of them might help to inspire real things that happen at these properties.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mace was equally impressed with the students\u2019 contributions. \u2018The students have been invited by the OHT to contribute to a continuation of this project in some form, possibly a web exhibition or a publication beyond the scope of the semester,\u2019 she says. \u2018It’s gratifying to see the interest in their hard work and that others understand the potential of our amazing students. Clearly, this project has had an impact, and it’s been wonderful to see.\u2019 Says Rapley: \u2018This experience has genuinely helped me envision a future where I could continue in a career focused on heritage and cultural projects beyond the university setting.\u2019 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read more….<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

image for illustration: Former Train station (Kingston, Ontario) by Doug Kerr from Albany, NY, United States, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons Arts & Science art history students are offering fresh ideas, narratives and out of the box thinking for … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[6,18,30,51,9,29,16,373],"class_list":["post-43034","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ihbc-newsblog","tag-building","tag-conservation","tag-environment","tag-global","tag-government","tag-heritage","tag-planning","tag-reuse"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43034","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=43034"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43034\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":43037,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43034\/revisions\/43037"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=43034"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=43034"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=43034"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}