16 April 2019

Perth & District Historical Society April Meeting

The following is a notice from the Perth & District Historical Society.

Thursday, April 18, 2019- 7:30pm

Architectural Conservation of Wooden Heritage Buildings

Presented by Jack Hollinger.

Although our Society’s mission is primarily to learn about our local history, culture and heritage, we sometimes take a circuitous route to it. For this month’s meeting, we will go beyond our local borders to a wider world of heritage buildings of our area, of Canada and abroad.
All too often, the focus of the study of our heritage, and activities to protect it are on the old stories and records, and we overlook the physical structures in which it all took place – and which have their own stories to relate. Unfortunately, this aspect is, at times, forgotten until it is too late, and the cost of restoring too high. For many reasons, stone buildings usually receive a higher priority for restoration (note the present work on Parliament Hill). Wooden structures, despite being equally significant to our heritage, are often overlooked, because they are more susceptible to the ravages of time and neglect. Consider the old wooden barns of this area or the traditional wooden grain elevators of the Prairies. The restoration of such structures requires different technology, as well as a more sensitive approach.
Jack Hollinger, our guest for this month, grew up in Ferguson’s Falls and attended PDCI. His post-secondary education includes two undergraduate degrees from Queen’s University, plus programmes in Heritage Carpentry and Joinery at Algonquin College – Perth Campus. At the Perth Campus, he has been teaching the Heritage Carpentry and Joinery programme for the past 10 years and overseeing it for the past four years. He admits to a passion for trees, wood and the things we can make with it, with a special interest in traditional methodologies. Hollinger and his wife of 15 years, Donna Klassen, have two sons.
Jack’s work experiences have taken him to The Northwest Territories, the Laurentians of northern Quebec, Lanark County and Colorado. Further afield, he has been to Norway to study wood architectural conservation, especially their unique stave churches, most recently as a guest instructor on traditional wooden building techniques for ICCROM in Oslo Norway. In addition to the Norwegian experience, he was chosen to be a member of a group of heritage carpenters and professionals from around the world for a course on wooden architectural preservation focussing on the restoration of the most iconic Church if the Transfiguration on Kizhi Island, Karelia in northwestern Russia.
Jack Hollinger will talk to us about traditional craftsmanship in the Russian North, Norway and Canada. He will review the differences between these locations, what we can learn, where the field of heritage carpentry can contribute to preserving our history, and lessons that can be applied to looking after our own neighbourhood. Such are the benefits of having a world-class heritage carpentry professional in our midst!

Please join us at Perth's Royal Canadian Legion,
26 Beckwith Street E., Perth, (Toonie Donation).

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