The historic, nearly 120-year-old Van Horne Estate barn on Ministers Island near St. Andrews in the Passamaquoddy Bay is getting $1.47-million in government money to help complete its restoration.
Ministers Island is a provincial heritage site, designated as such in part because of Canadian Pacific Railway builder William Cornelius Van Horne establishing his summer estate on the island in 1892 — which includes the barn.
The announcement was made today and provincial tourism, heritage and culture minister John Ames says a lot of that money is going towards work on the exterior of the barn with some interior work to be done as well.
“On the outside it’s been subject to a lot of weather damage, there have been many storms that have really hurt the silos particularly, the roof, the shingles, the facade itself has been certainly been hit hard in recent years with many storms on the coast,” says Ames.
Both the provincial and federal government are contributing $735,000 each for the project and the work itself is ongoing.
“We’ve been witnessing small amounts of work for the last couple years but this year alone and moving forward in the next year we’re seeing it ramped up quite a bit especially with this fusion of funds,” says Ames.
The restoration of the barn is part of a three-phase business plan for Ministers Island. The department says the tourism vision involves opening the barn, built in 1899 by Montreal architect Edward Maxwell, as a way to help tell the story of Van Horne. The plan for the island includes adding ‘modern carriage house chalets’ to allow people to stay overnight, creating beach access and docking facilities, and more.
