Valley Manor residents and staff are one step closer to completion of the ambitious redevelopment project which will see the Manor move from its present location on Mintha Street to St. Francis Memorial Drive in Barry’s Bay beside the St. Francis Health centre and St. Francis Memorial Hospital. Once there on the grounds of the former Sherwood Public School, the Manor will be an integral part of a community health hub that has been a long range goal for years. Before that happens, though, the Sherwood PS building has to go. On site earlier this week Valley Manor CEO Trisha DesLaurier received the official demolition permit from Donovan Ott, consultant for jp2g Building Services Division, the demolition project managers. Above: DesLaurier (centre left) holds the permit with Ott, watched by Valley Manor Board members Robert Cihelka (far left) and Kathy Marion.
Valley Manor Board Chair Kathy Marion said being on the site of the former school prompted a lot of memories, recalling that in her days on the Renfrew County District School Board she had participated in the official opening ceremony of the newest wing of Sherwood PS.
When asked about the projected official opening for the new Valley Manor, DesLaurier acknowledged that the pandemic, as well as changes to long term care regulations, had delayed the project but that they were aiming for a 2025 opening. As for the start of construction, she said there would be a gap after demolition until they could break ground on the building. She added that the shovel used for ground-breaking ceremony 40 years ago at the Mintha Street location had been saved and she was excited to keep it ready for use to officially begin construction at the new site.
The redevelopment project was, of course, not the only thing delayed by the pandemic. Board Vice-Chair Robert Cihelka remarked that despite having served on the Valley Manor board for nearly a year, because COVID-19 restrictions necessitated remote video meetings, this was the first time he and Marion had been able to meet in person.
The demolition bid was won by Schouten Excavating of Watford (near Sarnia). Ott said that Schouten had already begun hazardous materials abatement on the site, and that actual demolition would follow shortly. DesLaurier said that a public meeting for neighbouring residents was held recently to maintain open communication about the project. The demolition is expected to take a month to complete.
In the article it is noted that the ground- breaking shovel to be used for the new manor was the same one as deployed 40 years ago. The manor on Mintha Street was exemplary in that it was designed to integrate with the MV environment with its generous usage of granite, wood beams and even waterfalls and non linearity. Even the foyer had considerable MV charm and heritage associated with it.
It would be my expectation (HOPEFULLY) that the current architect would integrate these very desirable features in the new dwelling for the future residents and not engage in designing some industrial style ugly Canadian architecture as is exemplified in other manors in the Ottawa Valley characterized by a bevy of glass windowpanes, cement brick veneer, linear parking slots, ugly steel bollards and lack of curvature detail and nuanced with a few metres of granite or limestone stone for a lonely accent. Hopefully, the grouping in the foto will have the foresight our visionaries of 40years ago and make this residency into a European style architecture, constructed to be beautiful to the eye and therefore appealing to the resident not a bleak and isolated dwelling that is no different then the clinic adjacent to it. To the folks engaged in this project ensure that industrial efficiency dictated by space parameters does not dictate this design but bolsters our community in the MV and is a welcoming residence: not one that sterilizes even the greatest of MV souls forced to enter an uncomfortable inanimate environment to spend their last golden years.