For more than 110 years, the Central Experimental Farm has been a lush, green and quiet refuge from the noise, bustle, commerce and politics of Ottawa.
Now, the site of the first Canadian experimental farm and the head office of Agriculture Canada also has been recognized as a national historic site.
Andy Mitchell, junior federal minister responsible for national parks, said last week it makes the Central Experimental Farm one of “Canada’s special places.”
With its barns, working cattle herds, flower gardens, cultivated fields and agriculture museum, it is an example for modern city slickers of the 19th century agriculture that helped build Canada, he said.
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But it also is being recognized as a continuing site of leading-edge research.
“For more than a century, it has been a cradle for many agriculture developments in Canada,” said Mitchell. “The farm has been a symbol of the pivotal role of agriculture … in shaping this country.”
For industry minister and Ottawa MP John Manley, it was more than a symbol of agriculture.
Manley told the ceremony crowd Feb. 4 that its quiet walkways and out-of-the-way nooks and crannies were a “special place” where he once took girlfriends for some private times.
Manley was raised in a working class housing development on the edge of the farm, a stone’s throw from the Sir John Carling building that houses Agriculture Canada head offices. Last summer, his daughter worked as a co-op student in the cow barns.
“This really roots us to our agricultural past,” said Manley. “And it is an important reminder to our young people about the importance of looking after the land.”
Once on the outskirts of the capital, the 980 acres of forest, field and park now lie squarely in the middle of the sprawling city.
And for all the praise last week, the farm has had its bad moments in recent years.
Little more than a year ago, there were plans to move one historic barn away and to bulldoze others as funding declined and staff was cut.
There were fears that the money-hungry government would sell some of the land for development.
Only an outcry from a volunteer group called Friends of the Farm saved the historic buildings.
The farm also suffered a setback last year when fire leveled a dairy barn and destroyed some heritage animals. But as the politicians noted, the Central Experimental Farm, with its livestock, historic equipment and children’s programs, remains one of the most popular tourist spots in Ottawa.
Now, the research centre that produced Marquis wheat has been recognized as one of more than 700 historic sites in Canada.
