Doors Open Windsor highlights major restoration work at Mackenzie Hall
Windsor, Ont. is home to many historic and heritage buildings, but we often drive by and never get a peek inside.
That opportunity was offered Saturday and Sunday with Doors Open Windsor.
Residents became tourists in their own city with a chance to get a special glimpse of properties like the Duff-Baby House, the Masonic Temple and Mackenzie Hall, to name a few.
Some of these buildings have been standing for hundreds of years.
Mackenzie Hall was built in 1855 by Alexander Mackenzie, who became the second prime minister of Canada a few decades later.
City representatives say the building is a “living link between our legal past and our artistic present” as the former courthouse and jail now serves as a cultural and performing arts centre.
Major masonry work was recently undertaken to restore the building after city officials discovered the wrong type of cement was used during previous work in the 1980s.
“It was determined that the mortar that was replaced in 1985 was Portland cement and Portland cement is harder than the actual lime and sandstone that exist on the building,” says restoration project manager for the City of Windsor, Brandon Calleja.
The work took place over the last few years and is now complete.
“It's going to allow the wall to breathe and it's going to hopefully last for another century to come,” Calleja says, adding this project is one example of what the city is doing to ensure Windsor’s physical history can remain intact for residents to enjoy.
He adds, “This is probably one of the most significant buildings in the City of Windsor. Certainly one of the oldest, the second oldest in fact, so it’s great to see that there’s money being spent on preserving some of the gems that are left in Windsor.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Pilot reported fire onboard plane carrying fuel, attempted to return to Fairbanks just before crash
One of the two pilots aboard an airplane carrying fuel reported there was a fire on the airplane shortly before it crashed and burned outside Fairbanks, killing both people on board, a federal aviation official said Wednesday.
'One of the single most terrifying things ever': Ontario couple among passengers on sinking tour boat in Dominican Republic
A Toronto couple are speaking out about their 'extremely dangerous' experience on board a sinking tour boat in the Dominican Republic last week.
7 surveillance videos linked to extortions of South Asian home builders in Edmonton released
The Edmonton Police Service has released a number of surveillance videos related to a series of extortion cases in the city now dubbed 'Project Gaslight.'
Ukraine uses long-range missiles secretly provided by U.S. to hit Russian-held areas, officials say
Ukraine for the first time has begun using long-range ballistic missiles provided secretly by the United States, bombing a Russian military airfield in Crimea last week and Russian forces in another occupied area overnight, American officials said Wednesday.