Ottawa funds heritage work

February 05, 2010

Federal stimulus money will go to historic site upgrades.
Heather Colpitts, Langley Advance


The federal government is giving the Fort Langley Historic Site a $3 million face lift, and is going all Huckleberry Finn to do it.
A Parks Canada crew of heritage experts will be brought in from Winnipeg to whitewash the storehouse which dates from about 1840.
It is thought to date back to around 1840, a rebuild after a blacksmith accidentally burned down the fort in 1839.
 
Public works surveyor Chris Bryenton plotted utilities at the Fort National Historic Site late last month, in preparation for its $3-million facelift.
Roxanne Hooper/Langley Advance

This spring the storehouse will be tented off for four weeks, for paint removal, unable to be viewed by the public.

"There was lead-based paint on the building from the '30s," explained John Aldag, the historic site manager.
At the time, lead paint was thought to be a good preservative.

It will be safely removed, and the building whitewashed, a historically accurate treatment that's expected to take two weeks and can be watched by visitors.

The drawback with whitewash is that it must be repainted approximately every five years, more often than paint.

But it also has advantages.

"It's a lime wash, so it actually acts as an insecticide," explained Manfred Bailey, the heritage resources manager.

But there's an art to whitewash.

"You have to make it," Bailey said. "You have to rest it for four to six months before you use it."

So the Parks Canada crew coming from Winnipeg will bring the cured whitewash with them, and while here, will train the local maintenance staff on the lost art.

On Tuesday, Langley MP Mark Warawa made the funding announcement about the storehouse restoration and the other projects that will take place at the fort over the coming months.

"They'll provide real action with real stimulus with real benefits," he said of the funding.

The biggest project will be the replacement of the fort walls, which date back to the 1958 provincial centennial.

"We're budgeting around $1.7-1.9 million," Aldag said.

The palisade, which follows the footprint of the original fort wherever possible, will be taken down and replaced in 80-foot sections. The project will start in September and take until early 2011. The cedar logs will be reused as split-rail fencing at the heritage site.

The new palisade will be made from pressure-treated wood which has a life expectancy of 50 years.

The modern roof on the visitor centre and the maintenance centre (in the parking lot) will be replaced. The shake roofs on the servants' quarters and the storehouse will also be replaced.

The grassy orchard area outside the fort walls will have 70 truckloads of dirt added, irrigation installed, and new sod laid.