Paddy Walker House Lecture at the Bruce County Museum

Feature

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Calling All Restoration and Renovation Enthusiasts - Bruce County Museum Lecture Will Reveal the Behind The Scene s Work and Secrets To Restoring An 1850 Inn

When: Tomorrow Night - Tuesday June 2nd, at 7 pm

Where: Bruce County Museum & Cultural Centre 33 Victoria Street North  Southampton, ON

Cost: Museum Members: $8.00 and Non-Members $10.00

What: Chantry Institute Lecture Series:

Listen to entertaining speakers in our 116-seat theatre.
June 2nd event details:

Lecture on the Paddy Walker House -It’s Restoration From the Inside Out:

How it works & what was discovered

“The historical building was severely damaged and sat empty, exposed to the elements for three years. As rumours grew that the municipality was considering demolishing it out concern for public safety, a groundswell of interested community members came forward, forming a non-profit, charitable organization, The Paddy Walker Heritage Society and bought Walker House from Mrs. Gairns in 1998. Restoration work, largely through volunteer labour as donated funding allowed, began in 1999 and is nearing completion in time for Reunion 2008. Once completed, Walker House will serve Kincardine and the surrounding region as a heritage centre providing exhibits, programmes and hosting events that interpret local history.

From the Paddy Walker House website -

 http://www.walkerhousekincardine.com

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01/06/2009 08:53 PM

Background on guest speakers:

Lambertus DeGraaf:

 Curator, Paddy Walker Heritage Society was hired by the Bruce County Museum and Archives for a period of 6 years. Those were an exciting 6 years with lots of interesting projects including two exhibits of the Titanic, connections with notable artists, such as Ken Danby, the art of Norval Morriseau, redesigning 4 galleries. Since then, DeGraaf have been a short-term curator of the Treasure Chest Museum in Paisley and currently in the past 5 years, curator of the Walker House in Kincardine, which is a restored Inn/Tavern built in the 1850's.

Why: It’s Kincardine’s oldest building and the oldest standing hotel in Bruce and Grey counties.

Walker House is situated high on the north bank of the Penetangore River, near the river’s mouth where it empties into Lake Huron. Built in the 1850?s by the pioneer entrepreneur, Francis “Paddy” Walker. There is some evidence that this may not have been the very first hotel Paddy built after his arrival in 1850).  

Bob Pulen

Bob Pulen is member of the Executive Committee and Collection Committee for the Paddy Walker House, and has been a significant part of the 10-year restoration of this attractive heritage building. Bob Bullen was a high School English teacher who retired to Kincardine in 1996. He bought an 1859 gingerbread house and immediately got involved with Heritage Kincardine of which he is still a member. This led to his 10-year involvement with the Walker House as the Secretary on the Board of Directors. The last 10 years have been filled with both frustration and pride as the building was slowly restored to its former state as the oldest building in Kincardine and the oldest hotel in Bruce and Grey Counties.