Bond Head's Orangeman's Hall is getting a facelift.
David Chambers and his son Bruce originally rescued the Bond Head Orangeman’s Hall (Lodge) built in 1862, and moved it piece by piece from its original location on the east side of County Rd. 27 (near the Bond Head Park ball diamond), to their own property on the 7th Line in Bond Head, after purchasing it from the town for $1.
Bruce was only 13 when he helped his dad dismantle the Neo-Classical building, label each board and timber, and transport the pieces to the field behind their home. The following year, writes David's wife, June Chambers, “father and son put it back together."
In 1990, the Orange Hall became Bruce’s wood-working studio, where he works on fine reproduction furniture and architectural pieces for restoration. Bruce is the one who built the reproduction doors for the Auld Kirk, and fully restored all of the windows.
Now the old Orange Lodge is getting a face-lift, and three generations of the Chambers family have been hard at work, sanding, drilling, replacing rotten boards and repainting: David, his son Bruce, and grandson Kent.
"Because the siding is so old, a lot of the pieces have to be replaced," said Bruce, noting there is a lot of prep work involved before painting. "The paint's actually the fun part."
The project is all about preserving the building, said David, who is an advocate for the heritage in BWG.
"It's important architecturally and it's important historically," he said.
David said he would like to preserve it "for everybody, the County of Simcoe, the province of Ontario, it's part of our heritage," he said, noting at one point the building was the focal point of the community, that hosted everything from political meetings to social dances. Bruce even had his own wedding reception in the building.
"I consider it a privilege to be working on a historic building like this," said David.
“As I was watching them at work these past few weeks, aided by our grandson Kent, I had to admit awe and admiration as they hand-sanded with paper and drill all the old paint off, and replaced some of the rotten boards. A slow painstaking job, with the preparation for the primer and the two coats of paint,” said June.
As Kent put it, “It was like watching paint dry" but says the work is "very rewarding."
The three men hope to complete the project by mid-July.
-with files from Natasha Philpott
