Fort Rodd Hill in Colwood will be receiving infrastructure upgrades as part of a $38 million funding announcement for Parks Canada.
As part of the Nov. 10 announcement, upgrades for water and wastewater systems and roof repairs and re-shingling will take place at the national historic site.
Just over $4 million is pegged for the site’s water system upgrades, although that figure will be split between Fort Rodd Hill and Fort Langley.
The cost of the roof repairs will total $727,000.
The funding will make a big difference for the site according to Laura Judson, Parks Canada’s acting manager of national historic sites for coastal B.C.
The roofs of various buildings around the property have gotten leaky over the years, necessitating the upgrade.
“We were getting some water that was leaking into the buildings so the work had to be done,” Judson said.
“It’s really exciting to have this funding.”
Any work on these buildings must be careful to preserve their rich history, and that’ll be a key consideration during the renovations.
“When we do this kind of work, because they’re historic buildings, we have to maintain the integrity of the buildings so we can’t just redo them all in the easiest method for us,” Judson said.
With that in mind, the cedar shake roofs are being replaced with cedar shakes, for example.
“Each one is being replaced with the original type of roofing it had,” Judson said.
The only exception is the site’s welcome centre, as that’s not a historic building.
The water and wastewater systems will also be brought up to industry standards.
The lines, made of clay tiles, were starting to crack and water was beginning to drain back into the site’s buildings.
Geotechnical work is underway to see where the water lines run, and, as with the roofing work, the process will be monitored by the Federal Heritage Buildings Review Office (FHBRO) to ensure that the history of the property isn’t disturbed.
“We need to have our work reviewed by that office to make sure that we’re not causing any unnecessary damage to this protected site,” said Judson.
joel.tansey@goldstreamgazette.com
