Many historic properties are deteriorating through vandalism, neglect, or inappropriate use. Others are proposed for demolition because of redevelopment pressures. Ontario loses thousands of historic properties every year, and many are significant late 18th Century, 19th Century, and early 20th Century structures and landscapes of historical, architectural and social significance.
The Willowbank Documentation Program focuses on the recording of historic places at risk, in various Niagara region communities.
The program has three primary aims.
The first aim is to record key information about the building or structure or landscape through research, photographs and drawings. Even if the asset disappears, there is a record of its tangible and intangible qualities that is preserved for future generations.
The second aim is to increase public interest and appreciation of historic sites. In some cases, the mere act of documentation increases awareness and leads to better appreciation. This may lead to directly to a change of decision, to save rather than demolish. In other cases, although the property itself may not be saved there is more chance that similar properties will survive. In a documentation program, the student work is suitable for display at local museums, libraries, historical societies, town halls and other venues at the completion of the summer internship.
The third aim is to build up an inventory of information about Ontario’s rich architectural and landscape heritage. The result of a documentation program over time is a wealth of information about the form, material and detailing of historic places across the province.
The objective of the program:
- To preserve essential information about culturally-significant places that are in danger of being lost forever due to damage, neglect, or demolition
- To raise awareness of these places at risk, within the communities where they are located.
- To expose young people, in a very direct way, to the historical richness and architectural quality of important buildings and sites in Ontario
- To give young people a skill that can be applied in a number of occupations
- To give participants a sense of the wide variety of career options in the heritage conservation field
Generously Funded by:
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