No matter which side of the divide one sits as to whether the SS Norisle should have remained berthed on the Manitowaning waterfront, one thing is clear: that vessel represents two key moments in history for our supposedly nautical nation. Not only was she the first passenger vessel built following the Second World War, she was also the last steamship built in this nation—thus representing the very pinnacle of that technology.
Northern Ontario’s architectural history has been chipped away, plank by plank, in recent years, thanks largely to a cult of neglect and the fact that nearly all of the North’s older buildings are built of wood and not stone. Soon, the elderly Burns Wharf and Roller Mills buildings will also liklely be facing the wrecker’s ball as they are deteriorating rapidly. Even the stone edifice that is the Mindemoya Old School was only saved by the determined efforts of a handful of stalwart defenders—and the verdict still remains out for that structure until it can be proven sustainable in its new life as an artisan and seniors’ centre.
It is easy to blame municipal councils for the loss of such historical icons, but truth be told small rural municipalities wrestle with more day-to-day and pressing matters such as providing safe roads, services and supports for their ratepayers. The weight of preserving our collective heritage should not be placed upon property owners already heavily burdened shoulders.
For too long our province (and nation) have blithely ignored our past, good, bad and even pretty. While they too have pressing current matters to attend to, they are in far better financial position to secure our past even as they seek to build our future.
The situation regarding the Manitoulin swing bridge and the Mindemoya Old School are two cases in point. In the former, the province has determined the current edifice is reaching its end of life, but its replacement will follow the same style and relative footprint as the old. In the second, a group of Island citizens banded together to successfully make a “business case” for saving that edifice. In neither case did upper levels of government step up to save the day.
Our nation, young as it may be, stands in stark contrast to those of Europe or south of the border, where heritage and their national narratives take a stronger seat at the state, provincial and national budget tables.
As Joni Mitchell’s lyrics warn… “Don’t it always seem to go…that you don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone.” She may have been talking about the environment, but the same goes for heritage. It is long past time that governments at all levels wake up and take the preservation of our national heritage more seriously and stop depending on the vagaries of small local populations to pay the freight.
