No one wants to demolish the lovely old green and white farm buildings at the University of Saskatchewan.
But some university managers and professors are worried the buildings could be lost if agriculture grads and other alumni don’t come to their aid.
“There’s not much we can do about it,” said Larry Harder, the university’s director of planning and engineering, who thinks the Saskatoon university can’t maintain the historical structures by itself.
“The reality is, with the chronic underfunding of the institution over the last decade, we’ll never get to properly preserving or restoring these buildings.”
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It’s not that the university doesn’t care. Buildings like the old stone barn, the grain elevator and the poultry barn have been symbols of the institution since it was formed. They’re thought of fondly by people there now and also by the legions of agriculture graduates who spent important years of their lives there.
The university recently established a heritage buildings subcommittee that is considering ways to save the structural history. The maintenance department includes the buildings on a list of structures that need repair.
But there’s a long list of higher building priorities, and university architect Colin Tennent worries the farm buildings may never qualify for funding. Other buildings are needed for research and for teaching. The ag buildings tend to be seen as less useful.
“As much as we can say it’s a quaint old building, it’s probably not going to make it,” said Tennent.
He, Harder and a group called the Barn Raisers think new uses can be found for the old stone barn.
They want to convert the structure, which still houses some dairy cows and feed, into two large meeting halls in the cavernous hayloft, and put offices in space where the cows now moo and placidly chew their cuds.
The group thinks there could be room for about 700 people in the loft, and it’s easy to see why. The west wing is 53 by 13 metres. The east wing is 48 by four metres. Altogether the loft has 19,000 sq. feet of space.
The barn will need some work, but surprisingly little for a building erected in 1910-1912. It was built by the Montreal architecture firm Vallance and Brown.
Sturdy stone walls rise for the first metre or two of the barn walls, before wood construction takes over. Some of the mortar is crumbling, but mostly the wall is sound.
On the inside it looks much as it has for most of this century. The concrete barn floor seems firm, though the metal columns supporting the heavy floor of the hayloft have decayed.
Many of the cast iron columns have disintegrated at their base due to decades of corrosive cow urine. They would need to be fixed or replaced so the floor above – two-by-fours and two-by-sixes nailed wide-side to wide-side and resting on 14-inch thick pine beams – is sound.
Up in the hayloft, some work is needed on the boards that make up the roof and trusses, but there is no major damage.
The U of S landmark doesn’t look like most prairie barns, especially the twin silos beside the ramp that leads into the hayloft. Tennent thinks the architects based their plans on turn-of-the-century Quebec barns.
The same architectural style can be seen in the nearby poultry barn and turkey barn, which the group is also examining for preservation.
Tennent and Harder say the old turkey barn, which was originally the university’s hog barn, is unlikely to be saved. It was never a good livestock facility and wasn’t designed for human habitation.
The poultry barn, on the other hand, could easily be used by people, since it has always contained a classroom and offices.
The group said the buildings could be preserved on campus, but also thinks people could be allowed to buy and move them.
Livestock feed professor Leigh Campbell is trying to find a new use for the old grain elevator, which sits between the poultry barn and the old stone barn.
The Barn Raisers, who are mostly members of the Saskatchewan Agriculture Graduates Association, have gathered enough money for a feasibility study on preserving and converting the old stone barn.
After that they’ll need money for preservation itself, and for work on any other old farm buildings on campus that people want to save.
Tennent said those who want to help can call him at 306-966-4537 or Elaine Cadell at 306-966-5168.
Tennent and Harder hope that with enough ag alumni support, the preservation drive will prevent the buildings from sinking into history and memory.
“We have so few of these gems,” said Harder. “And you can lose them in the blink of an eye.”
“We have so few of these gems. And you can lose them in the blink of an eye.”
