Our Heritage

 18 Water St E

Lions Park was assembled by Napanee Lions Club in the early 1970s and donated to the Town.  18 Water E, a small house on a 30 foot lot sat right in the middle of the park and was owned by “Crack” Alkenbrack. The Lions tried but were unable to buy it. After his death, the opportunity to purchase the property was missed and eventually it was renovated.  By 2015 the cost of acquisition had swelled but Council did acquire it apparently with the intention of demolishing it and adding it to the waterfront park.  All of this was done in closed session without input from the public or the heritage committee so what exactly happened is uncertain.

Staff recommended it be demolished and council agreed.  However, on November 10, 2015 the heritage committee asked for a delay to give them time to study it, pointing out that the Heritage Act and the Town’s by-laws were not followed. The heritage committee prepared a detailed report and presented it to the council on January 12, 2016.   The committee found that the house had no physical attributes worthy of preservation on the basis of architectural merit and that there was no sufficient reason to designate the property. It nevertheless recommended that council consider preserving it or parts of it, possibly for use as a washroom and tourist booth. Council decided to get prices on preservation vs demolition.

Lorne Castle, 132 River Road, was built by Alexander Campbell (born 1803) who also built the Campbell House. He was a surveyor, merchant, postmaster and proprietor/editor of Napanee Standard.

The house sits on a high promontory south of Napanee known as Campbell’s rocks. It was owned by Bruce McPherson Sr from the 1950s until his death in 2011 and is now owned by Janet and Darren Jaynes who are carefully restoring it.  (picture ca. 1920)

The Old Post Office, a Napanee landmark.

Click here to see the story of Hotel Hollywood, Napanee’s most infamous heritage site.

Our County Court House. Well actually, it’s the County Administrative Offices which is still used part of the time for court. But, that’s another story.

 

 

Royal Bank of Canada, 36 Dundas E. The upper floors have been vacant for decades. To the left, the Richelieu Hotel, 42 Dundas E, now owned by Cris Vilela.

 

 

The Monsters were able to consolidate ownership of these three buildings, 28, 30 and 32 Dundas E and have done an extraordinary job of restoring them to their former glory. They now house Starlet, Starlet Shoes with a small coffee shop off John St.  30 Dundas E was Napanee’s pool hall for years. My how times change.

 

 

68 -72 Dundas E.

The Waterfront Cafe. Picture taken from Conservation Park.  Jane Adams-Roy rescued this old stone building just before it was ready to be bulldozed and did a fantastic job of restoring it. It’s now an inspiration to others who wish to continue the revitalization of our downtown.

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Hubert Hogle 532-3672
hogles2@yahoo.ca

Dennis Mills 354-6375
d.smills@sympatico.ca

Arthur Ronald 354-4291
brodick1960@gmail.com

We have added six additional directors, John Wilson, Judy Wood, John Stinson, Briane Birney, Suzy Sheltler and Anne Hogle.  All residents and taxpayers in Greater Napanee are welcome to become members and all interested parties are welcome to receive our regular newsletters and contribute content to the website. If you are interested in serving as a director, let us know.

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