07/20/2022
The time has come for us to bid a farewell to the former Iron Foundry building at the Lunenburg Foundry. This building has been a significant contributor to not only the industry in this town but throughout Atlantic Canada and beyond. The building was originally built in 1891. After a fire in 1905, it was reconstructed in 1907 on the same foundation. From then on it was the central fixture in the Lunenburg Foundry manufacturing process until 1991.
The building has some interesting architectural qualities. Like so many other buildings in Lunenburg, it was built with the flare of local boat builders. Its tall and numerous windows allowed natural light into the middle of working area, which was a great feature since there was no electric light and certainly no industrial lighting in those early days. Its cupola was atypically long but allowed for significant ventilation for the furnace work that was taking place inside. The floor was originally all packed sand but later a cement slab was put into place. However, part of the floor was left open to a big sandy pit. This ‘sand box’ was where the workers carved out large moulds for casting. There was also a rail track and crane for moving these big castings out of the building.
This building was an example of how factories operated over a century ago. As a factory building of this vintage, it had seen both world wars and many other significant eras of the 20th century. In contrast, throughout Europe, factories from the early industrial days had mostly been either bombed or rebuilt since the end of the second world war. Certainly, too, foundry and factory buildings here in North America had changed throughout the time that Lunenburg’s Iron Foundry building was in operation. There was once a time that foundries were commonplace in communities everywhere in the industrialized world as they were the hardware store and support center for all the other businesses and industries that required hard castings for their trade.
Here in Lunenburg, homes and vessels required fixtures like stoves, engines, windlasses, pins, sheaves, wheels, propellers, hinges… anything and everything! The Foundry was the place to go for these pieces of hardware. Because of its central role, a lot of innovation occurred at this Iron Foundry. Its moulders, pattern makers and engineers were responsible for everything from ornate stoves to make-and-break engines. There were lots of workers that spent time in this factory. Likewise, there has been a lot of stories made as well all worthy of remembering.
This decision to take down this structure has not been made lightly. There has been a desire to preserve the building since the closure of the Iron Foundry in the early 90’s. Over the years we have considered preserving the entire structure to even parts of it. Indeed, we have saved and repurposed a lot from the inside of the structure. But now, all that’s left is a wobbling shell. Unfortunately, no viable avenues have presented themselves to allow us to save more of the structure. Time and weather have steadily weakened the building to the point that it’s become a safety concern and needs to be taken down. During the demolition process we hope to salvage some of the more robust wooden components in hopes that the spirit of this building lives on.
Dear Neighbours! Pest control has been consulted and time has been taken to lay traps to catch vermin that may be using this structure as their home. The building does not have a basement and its cement foundation will not be dug up at this time. Therefore, we don’t anticipate that there being too much of a disruption in vermin population.
