It’s a devastating loss for the Town of St. Mary’s and the local St. Mary’s Battery Restoration Committee.
The old cold storage building, one of just two left in the province and a federally registered heritage structure, was destroyed by fire yesterday.
The building, affectionately known as the Grand Old Lady of the Beach, was being converted into a community museum through the dedicated efforts of the local committee.
The cold storage facility was owned by the town and housed countless artifacts collected from local residents. Extensive work has been carried out over the years to convert the building into a regional museum which was supposed to open to the public very soon.
Committee President and St. Mary’s town councillor David Fagan says it even contained a replica of an 18th-century soldier’s barracks, while the costume for a mannequin representing a British soldier of the time was just being completed by a local seamstress.
Fagan says the enormity of the loss is hard to process.
Among the items lost is a mantle dating to 1859 that once belonged to the Presentation Sisters when they first established a presence in the area. The museum also contained countless household items and pieces relevant to the history of the area, now all gone.
A significant historical loss early this morning in St. Mary’s as the old Cold Storage Building was lost to fire. @VOCMNEWS @CBCNL @NTVNewsNL Photo credits- building Yvonne Bishops. Fire Colleen Critch pic.twitter.com/V3Q9LOpPDM
— Sherry Gambin-Walsh, Liberal (She/Her) (@Sgambin) June 29, 2022
