HomeMy WebLinkAbout389"Article copied from the News Advertiser supplement Heritage Ajax, 1982, page 30.
Simply restoring a hotel isn't too exciting but work at the Pickering Museum will result in a unique
part of Canada's history being preserved for future generations.
During the 1850s, the Brougham Hotel, now located at the museum, operated as a temperance
hotel, providing good accommodations, meals and drinks like orange juice, tea and coffee
instead of the usual strong drink associated with hotels. ""It's an interesting period,"" says Felicity
Nowell-Smith, museum curator. ""I don't think any other museum has restored a temperance
hotel.""
The hotel was originally built around 1830 as a private home but, as the temperance movement
gained popularity and the Sons of Temperance group organized in Brougham, the owners
converted part of the building to hotel accommodations, providing an alternative to the two hotels
in Brougham that served alcohol. ""The temperance movement grew as a reaction to the
incredible drinking problems brought on by the tough life and disappointments the settlers
experienced."" says Nowell-Smith. The movement resulted in municipalities having the right to
choose whether they would be ""wet"" or ""dry"" and some remain ""dry"" today.
Although the building is not much different than other hotels of similar size during the 1850s,
the fact that it will be restored, as closely as possible, to the way it was when used as a
temperance hotel, makes it interesting and unique.
Restoring old buildings to their original state involves much more than simply moving in and
putting things back together. Ensuring that the restoration is done properly is the main concern
and that involves a lot of background work and studies before anything can be done.
""It will take time,"" says Nowell-Smith, ""because you don't want to do something that isn't right.""
The hotel is the subject of an indepth report from Museum Programs Collaborative,
a Toronto-based group that specializes in researching historical backgrounds and helping
museums set up programs, activities and projects that fit a certain time period.
The report makes several recommendations regarding the future of the hotel but,
although Pickering council has accepted the report, no decision has been made about how or
when to implement the suggestions.
Following the report, the next phase of restoration involved finding out as much about the actual
construction of the building as possible. This required museum staff to carefully remove layers of
wallpaper, lift floorboards, poke holes in walls and generally determine how close the present
structure is to the original. ""It's quite similar to an archeological dig,"" says Nowell-Smith. ""
You uncover a little bit at a time, combine what you find with a knowledge of building practices
and common sense and determine what it was originally like.""
Clues like the estimated age of wallpaper, evidence of walls, doors and windows that were
moved or closed off, different colors of paint on the floors, different types of lathing behind
plaster walls, stairways that were obviously moved and other things all add up to give a total
picture of the hotel's original layout.
Most of the ""detective"" work has been completed, according to Nowell-Smith, and the next
step is to submit the evidence to a restoration architect for analysis.
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