Talented teams working out of two Winnipeg-area workshops bring a wealth of knowledge, on the one hand to the task of saving and restoring historic buildings on site in the vast stretch of Canada from the Ontario border to the west coast and, on the other hand, to cleaning, repairing and fortifying aging fabrics, wood items and other artefacts.
Jenny Ford T
he cabin was about to slide into the river only two and a half metres away from the riverbank
where almost seven metres of the bank had washed away the year before. Tat was only part of the challenge facing Kym Terry, restoration supervisor for Parks Canada, and his team of restorers. Te cabin, located in Nahanni National Reserve Park in the southwest corner of the Northwest Territories, was only ac- cessible by helicopter and the restorers had to fly in with their equipment so they could move the cabin back 30 metres. It was a challenging but fun experience,
says Kym, who has been a supervisor at the restoration workshop in St. Andrew’s, Man., for 25 years. Te rescue mission was one of many projects carried out by the workshop’s squad of experienced carpenters, masons, blacksmiths and metalworkers who travel across the country labouring to conserve Canada’s historic buildings. Te restoration workshop is one wing
of Parks Canada’s western and northern service centre based in Winnipeg. Here restorers repair crumbling buildings, mend century old linens, build replica furniture and clean the rust off historic metalwork, working to preserve this country’s past. Tere are four service cen- tres across Canada: the one in Manitoba sounds breathtaking in its scope, dealing
10 SMART careers | Early Spring 2011
with restoration across the vast stretch of country from the Ontario border to the west coast as well as northern Canada. Kym and his team hit the road in April
to visit historic sites. “We’re repairing the building back to the way it was, using the materials they used to use and the equip- ment that they used to use. So, we use the chisels, the axes, the drawknives, the spoke shaves, making the wood have the same marks that it used to have,” he says. Te team returns to the workshop in
the winter to work on doors, windows and reproduction projects like Red River carts. Tis winter, among other projects, the team is making new bellows for Fort Langley National Historic Site in British Columbia, cutting the wood and measur- ing the leather for the bellow flaps. Kym started his career as an apprentice
for a local cabinetmaker. His employer wasn’t afraid to take risks, he says, which helped prepare him for his career with Parks Canada. “From that I learned you can try almost anything and I’m always up for a challenge. I like new things and I like history, so it was a good blend and opportunity.” Restorers’ pay starts at around $23 to $24
an hour. “A lot of people think because it’s a government job, it’s a place that I’ve retired to and don’t have to do too much work. But when you have to walk half way up a mountain carrying a load of shingles
on your shoulders because you can’t get up there any other way, there is a real physical aspect to the work,” he says. In the service centre’s second wing, in
Winnipeg , the restoration is of a com- pletely different nature. While the St. Andrews team concentrates on traveling to repair historic sites, the Winnipeg service group specializes in preserving and repairing artefacts. Jose Milne is a senior textile conserva-
tor. While she does visit historic sites to assess the quality of artefacts, she spends most of her time at the Winnipeg lab. “Our main work is cleaning and repairing objects that are on exhibit,” she says. “It ensures that all the organic and textile objects are conserved and prepared for exhibit so that they don’t deteriorate further.” Jose’s lab is a brightly lit room consist-
ing of long tables for laying out linens and large stainless steal sinks where fibres are gently washed. Tere’s also a room with a freeze drier for preserving artefacts. One artefact Jose has been restoring
this winter is a barrel excavated from Fort Prince of Wales National Historic Site near Churchill. Built in the mid-1700s, the barrel was an exciting find since it could easily have rotted away over time. Jose is water-logging the pieces so they can be treated in a baulking agent, a wax which goes into the cells of the wood, giv- ing the vessel strength and support. Te
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