Cornwall_2016_05_25

What will become of the Bishop's House? The Bishop’s House, proudly standing in St. Raphael since 1808, is one of Ontario’s oldest buildings and was recently acquired by the Glengarry Fencibles Trust. The non-profit group has already started renovations and hopes to transform and save the building. — photo Francis Racine

FRANCIS RACINE francis.racine@eap.on.ca

two decades. A visit to the building, classified as a Canadian Historic Site doesn’t yield much information concerning it’s glorious past. Windows and doors are boarded up with plywood and the front porch is in dire need of saving. Yet the Glengarry Fencibles Trust couldn’t be happier! Last year, an agreement was reached between the Catholic Diocese of Alexandria- Cornwall and the non-profit citizens’ group Glengarry Fencibles Trust, by which the Trust acquired the historic Bishop’s House in St. Raphael. The house, built in 1808, is among the oldest and most historic buildings in Ontario, and is an element in the celebrated

St. Raphael’s Ruins National Historic Site. The deal comes after 11 years of campaigning and negotiating by the Fencibles to ensure the preservation of the three-storey stone house, built by Reverend Alexander Macdonell, parish priest of St. Raphael’s in the early 1800s and later first bishop of Ontario. The Fencibles Trust took possession of the Bishop’s House onMarch 31 of this year and restoration of the important building has already started. According to an Ontario Historical Society Bulletin, the “imposing house will be reopened as an arts and culture centre, with studios, exhibit space, a catering kitchen,

and a tea room overlooking the grounds. The former refectory with high ceilings will be reused for receptions and concerts. The Bishop’s House will recognize the public service of Canadian pioneers associated with this National Historic Site, including Reverend Macdonell and John Sandfield Macdonald, Ontario’s first premier.” The renovation work is estimated to be a $2million conservation venture and will be completed in several phases. The first will address immediate threats to the physical integrity of the building and preserve its architectural features.

It has lived through the war of 1812 and both World Wars and has seen the invention of electricity, the phone and the automobile. Overseeing the ruins of the St. Raphael cathedral, the Bishop’s House is enveloped by the calm landscape of the Glengarry country side. Its parade grounds haven’t been used in a while and its many windows have shattered. For quite some time, it had been the property of the Diocese of Alexandria- Cornwall, having fallen in disarray in the last

Le Journal, Cornwall

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Le mercredi 25 mai 2016

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