The Rural Voice, 2019-09, Page 33When Jon Radojkovic looks
at an old barn, he doesn’t
just see boards and beams.
He sees a real, living example of
Ontario’s pioneering past.
“These structures are the last
vestiges of our Ontario history. These
barns are real pioneer construction,”
says Radojkovic.
For over a decade now, he has
wanted to establish a society to help
preserve these old barns, much like
ones that are common in the United
States. When he met fellow old barn
enthusiast Krista Hulshof, an
architect who specializes in rural and
agritourism, they found the synergy
to make the idea concrete.
The pair contacted all their barn-
loving counterparts and in March
2019, Ontario Barn Preservation was
born with a board of directors, a web
presence, a membership drive and
big plans.
“First of all, we want to get it out
there that we exist,” says Hulshof.
“Then we’d love to get members
across Ontario advocating for barns
to stay up and get repurposed.”
The group also wants to host
events to teach people about old
barns and how to preserve their own.
Also, they hope to create a barn
directory for all old barns in Ontario.
“We’d like to create a document
that contains the location of those
barns, what style they are and maybe,
through that, we’ll see some
interesting patterns about barns in
Ontario,” says Hulshof.
Long term, the group would love
to have funding available to help
barn owners preserve and repurpose
their old barns.
A common thread among the
current directors is how they have
admired, fixed and repurposed old
Preserving the old bank barn
Modern farming doesn’t have a place for these pioneer-time
structures but they can be repurposed to save our history
Newly formed in March, Ontario Barn Preservation is hoping to document the
number of old barns in Ontario while encouraging the preservation of these
structures from our pioneering history by encouraging the repair and/or
repurposing of the buildings, says society president, Jon Radojkovic (above).
• By Lisa B. Pot •
History
September 2019 29