CONSERVATION, RE-CONSTRUCTION, REHABILITATION, AND REPLICATION:
All incorporated to Save the Coach House

After many hours of discussion and research, the Lower Grand River Land Trust Inc., through a recommendation made by both the Building Conservation and Finance Committees, has agreed to place the full conservation and rehabilitation of the Coach House back on the agenda. The decision was made due to: the increasing rate of deterioration and loss of original building materials; the importance of the building in the context of the Ruthven Park estate; public interest for the future of the Coach House, and the willingness of Parks Canada to extend the time frame for the cost share project by one year. In their decision, Parks Canada have acknowledged the significant amount of work that has taken place on the mansion, gate house and outbuildings over the past four years, and recognized that conservation work on heritage buildings is expensive, time consuming and seasonal.

The Coach House at Ruthven Park is currently fenced off and supported by trusses.

The uniqueness of the project will be the approach to the overall conservation strategy. It will combine principles of conservation using restoration, re-construction, replication and rehabilitation strategies. The end result will be a building that is stabilized and preserved, yet adaptable in it’s interior for public use and assembly. Justified by its architectural significance, it will require very exacting sequencing and coordination of the work. To repair this traditional constructed masonry building, in such an advanced state of disrepair, will be a challenge yet will be of wide interest to the conservation community as well as to the general public.

Conservation and re-construction of the building exterior will improve it’s “public face” and most prominent visible aspect. The door on the east facade will become an accessible entry point for the visiting public. Rehabilitation to the interior spaces will provide assembly space for programmes and provide the ability to enhance the interpretation to include the diversity of the site. Some interior features; for example, the tack room and hay drop, will be replicated to interpret the interior character and original use of the building.

Currently, staff are working with a conservation team made up of architects and structural and mechanical engineers under the firm of ERA Architects Inc. to carry out further investigation of the building. This is important so that a scope of work and cost estimates can be determined and presented to the Building Conservation Committee for their input and approval.

It is anticipated that additional funding will be required to meet the full scope of the work. This will be staged in subsequent years through the annual budget and/or provided through grants and public donations.

It is believed that the Coach House was erected at approximately the same time as the Ruthven mansion (1845). Originally, it was a single rectangular shape building of random-coursed rubble stone with a gabled roof surmounted by a louvred cupola. Sometime before 1900 the tackroom and livestock pen were added. Built of limestone, it was used to house both animals (mainly horses), store feed, and house carriages and more recently automobiles.

Upcoming newsletters will keep you informed of the progress on the Coach House. It is anticipated that actual construction will commence sometime during the summer months.

Marilynn Havelka,
CAO, Ruthven Park