It is unfortunate that the Municipality of Central Manitoulin or its predecessor, Township of Carnarvon, hadn’t taken steps to have the stone school building in Mindemoya declared an historic building with, perhaps, some conditions that at least the façade of the building and its general outside appearance should remain the same no matter into whose ownership it passes.
Just now, Central Manitoulin, in an understandable move to remove the taxpayers’ burden of maintaining the building, is considering all options, including the sale of the property.
However, several things come to mind. One of them is an event that led more or less directly to the formation of the Central Manitoulin Historical Society—the sudden and generally surprising demolition of what was deemed to be the oldest commercial building in Mindemoya. It stood where the Amtelecom/Eastlink office now stands, between the Bank of Montreal and the O. Bond and Sons Plumbing buildings.
For many years this building, which had been built as a bank and boasted unusually thick stone walls, was owned and used by the Amtelecom Telephone Company as its Manitoulin office and also housed telephone switching equipment.
When the company decided it needed more space and that it would be much cheaper to tear down the historic building and rebuild than it would be to maintain the old façade and build onto it, the old building was torn down.
When the demolition began many people in the community were shocked and horrified. The fact that the municipality (of Carnarvon, at that time) had knowingly allowed this to happen was a nudge to formalize the historical association. It also led to one interested party standing for and winning a seat on council at the next election.
Another thing that comes to mind is that the old Township of Carnarvon, one of the three municipalities that amalgamated into the Municipality of Central Manitoulin about 15 years ago, really wanted to acquire the old school building when the former Manitoulin Board of Education declared it to be surplus.
Not only did the municipality of Carnarvon obtain the building, it also improved it by replacing the building’s flat roof with a pitched one that was not only more easily maintained but also improved the appearance of the tall building.
With the school building, the municipality obtained ownership of the adjacent schoolyard. That, in turn, led to the local efforts to improve the property with the addition of a gazebo/band shell, the building of a landscaped berm that gives focus to the park and, at the end of the property closest to the community centre, a pleasant waterfall. This was a community initiative, one primarily led by Jim and Joanne Smith, and it gives the focus of a park setting to downtown Mindemoya.
Elsewhere on this property, the Central Manitoulin Lions Club has constructed a roofed, open-sided structure for their own use during Homecoming Weekend and for other community events and picnics. A modern children’s playground, also a project of the Lions Club, is adjacent.
When the Township of Carnarvon acquired the building, the council of the day saw fit to associate it, by means of a plaque on the front of the building beside the main door, with the late Farquhar Anglin, a citizen of Mindemoya who was active in community life, in and out of the local political scene. It’s clear, then, that when the building and adjacent property came into municipal ownership nearly 30 years ago, Carnarvon Township planned that this arrangement would be a permanent one.
So, now we have an attractive and well-maintained public building in a part of a municipality that has had, up to this point, an inconsistent pattern of preserving, at least the façades, of historic buildings in Mindemoya.
Central Manitoulin and the Historical Society have done a fine job of acquiring the property that now houses an array of pioneer and historic farm equipment. Its entry point is the information centre that doubles as a visitors’ centre and small display area for the Historical Society’s portable displays.
Perhaps this is the moment for the Historical Society to think about a museum proper that could easily double as a Manitoulin Island historical archive.
To cite the Town of Gore Bay as a recent example, its museum board and administration, which had already improved the museum building through the addition of gallery space, acquired another town asset. That building had originally been built to “incubate” new businesses in town and was deemed by council to be redundant to its needs. But funds were accessed to turn the waterfront building into gallery space where artists and artisans could (and do) rent space and, in the process, create a new attraction for summer visitors.
The old school building in downtown Mindemoya is attractive on its own merits due to its limestone façade from the area and the community improvements created in what had been the adjacent school yard: the Old School Yard Park, the picnic shelter and parkland, the children’s play area. In addition, because of its location on a main highway (Hwy 542/King Street) in the heart of Manitoulin Island, this landmark could serve the very same function in Mindemoya.
If the Historical Society, or an organization like it, could make a case for mutual benefit to the municipality, the stone school could contain, possibly, a public archive, museum space, artists’ and artisans’ lofts and galleries as well as space for commercial rent, the municipality would have to consider this as a valid option that would bring a whole set of new benefits to the community.
Such a venture would give the growing community of Mindemoya something that it currently lacks, a place for the focus of arts and culture. This can be a two- or even three-party initiative; the municipality, the historical society and the private sector.
