The clock is ticking on the Centretown-based Workers History Museum’s project to photographically document every inch of the now-vacant E.B. Eddy paper mill on Chaudière Islands.
Since July 2014, a small group of dedicated volunteers has gathered every Monday and Thursday to create a detailed archive of the site, parts of which are more than 150 years old. They only have until the fall of 2015 to complete the task before construction activities begin for the massive Windmill commercial-residential project set to transform the islands into Centretown’s newest neighbourhood.
The mill is currently owned by Domtar with transfer of ownership to Windmill in the works. “Windmill and Domtar have both been excellent about giving us access and co-operation,” says Paul Harrison, photographer and photographical archivist for museum. “Windmill is very environmentally astute and they’re very sensitive to community and historical interests, so they were very interested in what we proposed.
Windmill intends to complete their full-scale community redevelopment using whatever they can from the original four complexes of the mill. Many of the buildings are condemned or contaminated with asbestos, but it’s expected that 11 full buildings can be renovated and new buildings can reuse materials such as bricks, beams, architectural elements and lighting fixtures, says Rodney Wilts, a partner at Windmill.
Ezra Butler Eddy originally used a small portion of the site to manufacture matchsticks in 1851. Over time, this grew into a logging, pulp and paper mill that spans 14 hectares. In the late 1800s, there were as many as 8,000 employees.
Domtar acquired the property in 1998 and announced the closures of the Ottawa and Gatineau sections of the mill in 2005 and 2007 respectively.
When Harrison, first brought up the idea of documenting the mill, he says the museum’s board immediately recognized its potential.
“When we finish this and we look at it in the past, it’ll be an absolutely unique accomplishment. There are photographers out there who specialize in old buildings, but they’re strictly artistic… they’re not trying to record it except in an aesthetic sense,” says Harrison.
The museum is a not-for-profit organization that works to preserve the history of workers in the National Capital Region. They have no permanent space to display their research, instead they set up exhibits in the community and present at labour and history conferences.
“We’re mostly doing documentary photography, so we’re trying to represent it as we saw it in 2014-2015. But we also get an opportunity sometimes to do something more artistic,” says volunteer Kim Elliott. He says one of his favourite days was when they were working in a basement section where clouds of steam were trapped.
“There was great atmosphere, the steam seemed to be rising and making nice billowy scenes,” recalls Elliott.
Although most volunteers were recruited through Ottawa’s RA Photo Club, fancy equipment and photography skills aren’t required in order to participate. A large part of the process involves filling out log sheets and other forms of documentation. As well as context and building information, the logs record the camera distance from the wall and the lateral distance between images so that buildings can be recreated in 3D if ever necessary.
Each work day, three or four volunteers show up and are assigned one of three tasks: overview stills, detail stills or video. The overview team captures broad images that can be overlapped to show entire buildings internally and externally.
Detail stills focus on smaller features that can be put into context when combined with the overview. The video group works similarly to the overview team, recording slow panoramic views of the site. These videos will be given voiceovers recorded by former mill employees, who can explain what is being shown.
Approximately 50 per cent of the buildings have been given context in this way through the explanations of James Gemmell, former maintenance superintendant of the Ottawa complex. Gemmell worked at the mill from 1976 until its closure in 2006 and is passionate about both the historic and the aesthetic value of the site.
“There’s a three-storey stone building over in Hull with an old French Canadian style roof on it. I would give anything to stand in the upper storey of that and just look at the interior of the roof . . . you get a catch in your throat,” says Gemmell.
The old buildings pose certain safety risks and the head volunteers had to take two safety courses: one on falling and one on hazardous materials.
“It’s been thoroughly cleaned and most of the asbestos has been either taken out or was assessed as being safely contained. So we think we’re safe and we don’t think we’re going to die of cancer in 20 years, but they (Domtar) have taken the trouble to have us fill out the appropriate forms,” says Harrison.
Despite the contamination and various roped off pits leading storeys down, it is uneven flooring that poses the most threat to volunteers. Harrison says that the importance of watching the ground is something he stresses often, and so far this has prevented any accidents.
“Being the one who’s responsible for everyone’s safety, I regularly demonstrate to them how easy it is to be stupid! You get wrapped up in your photography and you back up to reframe the shot . . . not good,” Harrison jokes.
The project is expected to yield more than 100,000 images and additional video footage. There are many different ideas on how this archive can be used, but Harrison says that for now, it doesn’t really matter. “It’s a unique resource that if you don’t preserve, it will be forever lost. You let the future worry about what it’s going to be used for.”