The historic Booth House, former home of Ottawa lumber tycoon J.R Booth, has received $12,750 funding from Parks Canada to repair cracks widened by the earthquake last summer.
The funding comes from the National Historic Sites Cost-Sharing Program, which “helps ensure the commemorative integrity of non-federally owned or administered national historic sites,” according to the Parks Canada website.
“There hadn’t been any funding available for quite some years, so it really has helped to get some work done,” says Janet Epp-Buckingham, director of the Laurentian Leadership Centre at Trinity Western University, which has owned the building since 1990. Trinity is a Christian university in Langley, B.C.
The company that has been making restorations to the building for six years, Everest Restoration, told Trinity before 2010 that the building would be able to handle the effects of an earthquake.
Epp-Buckingham says after the earthquake they started to notice more issues with the building.
“We thought that building was sound, but the 5.0 earthquake was quite a bit stronger than anything we had experienced in Ottawa before, and it exposed our weaknesses,” she says.
She says the earthquake widened cracks in the chimneys and the brick walls. The repairs cost around $25,500, and Trinity made a request for 50 per cent to be covered by Parks Canada. The funding was granted in August.
Everest Restoration has to be aware of many guidelines to be aware of when making changes to the Booth House, as it’s a designated heritage building on the exterior and the interior, which is unusual, explains David Jeanes , vice-president of Heritage Ottawa.
When wanting to make renovations, the owner has to make a request and consult with the Heritage Planning Department at the City of Ottawa.
Trinity bought the house from Ottawa’s Laurentian Club in 1990 to use it as a location for the Laurentian Leadership Centre, an exchange program for their students.
“During construction, I was worried because it seemed they were ripping things out,” says Jeanes, “But they did such a beautiful job and preserved almost everything exactly the way it was.”
The red brick and dramatic arch over the doorway of the Booth House, located at the corner of Metcalfe and MacLaren streets, resembles English gothic architecture. The interior is detailed with intricate woodwork and the original wallpaper. The original chandeliers, silver light fixtures, and marble fireplaces remain untouched. The main floor of the house is almost entirely in its original state, with the exception of the kitchen that has been renovated to suit the needs of the students living there.
The architect, J.W.H. Watts, designed several properties for the Booth family around Ottawa. He is also known for his first job upon arriving to Ottawa from England, which was designing furniture for the Parliamentary Library.
The house has remained an important building for Ottawa heritage, a part of walking tours for tourists, and what Jeanes calls a “great example of what to do with a heritage building.”