Members of the Wolfe Island Historical Society held a peaceful protest on the island Sunday, asking for the Ministry of Transportation (MTO) to forgo the demolition of one of Marysville’s oldest houses, which has been on the island since the 1800s.
The protesters are hoping the house at 1208 Main St. can be preserved.
“We realized we had to take action quickly,” said Kimberly Thomas, president of the Wolfe Island Historical society, after learning last week that the house would be torn down by the end of September to make room for construction of a new ferry terminal, located behind the home.
But many people living on the island, including Thomas, feel the house has historical significance and hope to save it.
“It’s a beautiful space that I think the community would be able to enjoy for more and more generations on the island,” Thomas said.
Protesters are hoping the MTO will hear them out and consider other options to keep the house alive.
“I think it would be such a loss to demolish it when there really is no reason,” said Dhyani Frost, who conducts historical walking tours on the island
Both Frost and Thomas suggested using the building as a tourism centre.
“It would be right there when you get off the ferry and it can also run in conjunction with the museum so it could be part tourist centre, part museum,” Frost said.
The protesters claim the MTO did not notify islanders of its plans to demolish the historical building before making the decision.
“They talk about community consultation as part of the process of building the new ferry docks but this came as a shock to everyone,” said Mikaela Hughes, an architect and Wolfe Island resident.
Nevertheless, the MTO maintains that it held “multiple public consultations.”
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“For example, during the design of the dock improvements, the public, interested stakeholders and community groups had opportunities to review and comment on the proposed designs. Four Public Information Centres have been held since the start of the project in 2015,” an emailed statement from Michael O’Morrow, MTO senior issues advisor, said.
O’Morrow said the MTO’s environmental study report was available online for 30-day public review until February 2018.
Finally, O’Morrow said that a heritage impact assessment was done on the house in August 2019.
“While the property was identified as having cultural heritage value of local significance or interest, it did not meet the requirements for designation as a Provincial Heritage Property of Provincial Significance,” he said.
The society says it has made multiple attempts to contact MTO, however, Thomas says she has not yet received a direct response back from the ministry.
“We’ve got community will to save the house and hopefully they’ll get back to us to have a conversation,” Thomas told Global News.
The MTO did not address questions about a current dialogue with the society, but did say it has given the society opportunities to photograph the residence and remove items of historical significance on a previous basis.
As the demolition deadline is quickly approaching, members of the society are encouraging supporters to continue to fight to keep a small piece of Wolfe Island’s history.
— With files from Global News’ Alexandra Mazur.
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