Chapter Two: Navigating Government Bureaucracies ...

...When All We Really Want to Do Is Save The Old Building

Charles Campbell's stone face above the door of the Old Post Office, Baddeck, N.S. (Author photo)

Last week we learned how businessman turned politician Charles J. Campbell was able to get a Thomas Fuller designed post office for Baddeck in 1885.

By the middle of the 20^th century, Charlie’s stone visage still looked out over the main street from the keystone above the main door, as he had for the previous 70 years. Most of the people involved in the construction of Baddeck’s post office and customs house were gone. Neither Robert Elmsley nor Charles J. Campbell lived to see Baddeck become the birthplace of Canadian aviation. Elmsley died in 1903; Campbell in 1906. The Bell’s, who had arrived in Baddeck in 1885 as the first stones of the Post Office & Customs House were placed, died six months apart. Alexander Graham Bell in August 1922; his wife Mabel in January 1923.

In the mid 1950’s a newer post office – one befitting the 20^th century, was opened just up the street. But the old stone building at the corner of Chebucto and Jones Street still had lots of life in it.

The main street of Baddeck in the 1950s - with an early version of Stone's Drug Store on the right. The newer post office is just out of view behind Stone's. Across the street, the iconic White Store, with owner Nancy Langley's car parked in front. (Author photo collection)

Samuel Gayley, a Philadelphia investment banker purchased it. His wife, Gertrude was a granddaughter of Alexander Graham and Mabel Bell, both of whom were instrumental in the development of a free public library in Baddeck in 1891 (along with George Kennan – see previous blog post George Kennan’s Baddeck Dacha at www.jocelynbethune.ca/post/george-kennan-s-baddeck-dacha). Gertude renamed the building Grosvenor Hall, in honour of her father Gilbert Grosvenor, longtime editor of the National Geographic Magazine.  Gertude donated the building to the Baddeck Public Library Society, where for the next 40 years, the Fuller-designed building, with the arched windows and a stunning view of the waterfront, was a busy place filled with books. On an upper floor, was the county archives. It continued to be a vibrant entity, operated by the non-profit library society.

But, maintaining a century-old stone building is not easy, especially for an all-volunteer board. By the mid-1980’s Grosvenor Hall was starting to show its age. There were a number of attempts to get government funding to restore it, but it was a hard sell. Modern structures that met modern building codes were a better investment, they were told.

The library was growing and space inside the stone building was no longer adequate. The Society made the difficult decision to move to a larger quarters. For the first time the building stood empty.

The old post office still anchored the town, but not as proudly as it once did.  The clock in the western eave stopped. Its two hands hung loose, permanently stuck at 6:30.

With no tenants in the building and no heat, it didn’t take long for deterioration to escalate. There was concern that the century old mortar was weakening, loosening some stones. What if someone was injured from falling debris as they walked past?

The Post Office & Customs House – crafted to be a landmark in town, had become a public danger. Soon it was condemned.

Immediate action was taken. Barricades, wrapped with hazard stripes of yellow & black, surrounded the building. Signs placed every few meters announced: 'Danger - Falling Rocks'.  We soon became accustomed to the sight of the derelict building, adjusting our walks to skirt around the barriers, averting our eyes.  It was only when a tourist would stop and ask what was to become of that beautiful landmark would we refocus on the gem within our midst.

Through it all, Charlie’s stone face looked over the main street.

By 1990, the Library Board had exhausted all means to get funding.

As a not-for-profit, they could not access funding that government entities could.

It seemed the best way forward, their last hope to save the building was to give the deed to the Village of Baddeck, a local municipal government. There was one stipulation – as the building had always been one open to and used by the public, it should remain so.

Before the meeting was over, the village commissioners struck a citizens committee to look for funding to restore Grosvenor Hall and report back to them.

Meetings-Meetings-Meetings

Full of vim and vigour – the Grosvenor Hall committee first met on Sept 30, 1992. There were five of us: Normie Bethune (my father-in-law), Chris King, Aynsley MacFarlane, the late Shane MacFarlane, and me. Bruce Anderson would join us within a few months.

We were encouraged that the feds had communicated they would be interested in investing. But first, they said we as a committee had to come up with a viable operation that could work within the existing structure. This became our mandate.

We soon began to realize how complex government funding for a century old building was – one level of government funding we qualified for required that we be a part of a government agency, like the Village Commission: another required that we be part of a non-profit group, like the Library Society. We continued to meet and plan.

Then, we were advised a study should be done to see if the building could be better utilized with an addition. The study would cost between $25-$35,000. 

Now we had an additional focus - find other prospective backers and possible long-term tenants for an enlarged and renovated Grosvenor Hall.

Another consultant who met with us said no study was required as most of the work had already been done by the many efforts of the library society.  What a relief! We were going to get this done! We continued to meet and reach out to potential funders.

Six months after our committee had been formed and after numerous meetings with consultants and government officials of various departments, we had a plan. A restored Grosvenor Hall would house a Bras d’Or Watershed Centre, with an interpretive centre on the main floor while the upper floors would house research hubs. In March 1993, we filled out an application to the federal government for $1,192,000 to have Grosvenor Hall restored and renovated. The wheels were in motion.

At least that’s what we thought.

While we continued to meet and plan, we assumed our application was moving (slowly) through the bureaucracy and that no news simply meant no decision had been made. We heard nothing for almost a year. When we finally did connect, we heard there had been retirements at the agency, the people we had met with were gone; the new people needed ‘to be brought up to speed’. But the sentiment had changed. There was a decrease in the percentage they may fund, and requests for more and more studies and no money to completely restore the building. Some good news to keep us encouraged – they would pay to install a furnace for heat and re-wrap the building in plastic – a cocooning that would continue to protect the most vulnerable areas of the stone building. The yellow & black stripped barricades and ‘Danger Falling Rocks’ signs remained in place.

The old stone wall across the street from the Old Post Office. The stone was mined from Charles J. Campbell's mine in Boularderie and this stone wall was part of his property called 'Duntulum Cottage'.

In the spring of 1994, Cape Breton University (then University College of Cape Breton) came on board to help us to plan and organize two significant meetings: one with all prospective funders and another, a public consultation with residents of Baddeck. It was suggested we provide an operations plan and a marketing plan too. And a list of tenants – but not just potential tenants, ones who have actually committed to long-term rental to sustain the operation of the building.

On a fine spring day in early May, we sat around a large conference table at the Inverary Inn with the prospective funders. We were delighted to hear provincial and federal departments express an interest in having offices at such a prime location in such a distinguished building in Baddeck. We had assurances from a number of government agencies! Their commitments were, of course, conditional on the building being restored and renovated. For that we were still waiting for funding from the federal government. The public consultation was also a success. Dozens of residents and business people showed up, asked questions and filled out questionnaires about restoring the building. Of the 31 questionnaires returned, 29 wanted to see the building saved – 93.5% - it was very a very encouraging number that we could now take to the federal funders.

For the rest of 1994, progress stalled.

On a dark winter day early in 1995 at the library at the Bell Museum, we met again with another consultant. We were feeling the weight of unmet expectations, the frustration of navigating bureaucracies and the realization that crucial time was slipping away. We had spent three years gathering all the pertinent information required, yet we still didn’t have money to save the building. Time was running out.

“It can wear on you," said the consultant, as he looked at our tired faces.

In the three and a half years between the committee forming in the fall of 1992 and the walls crashing down in the spring of 1996, the Grosvenor Hall Committee met as a committee in each other’s homes, sitting at kitchen tables, planning strategies and presentations. We had over 50 meetings with consultants, with government representatives from the federal and the provincial governments in a variety of departments such as tourism, heritage, technology, and environment. We spoke with local businesses and regional businesses leaders, university officials, the Baddeck Village Commission and residents of Baddeck and surrounding area – anyone who would listen - about the plans that we hoped would ultimately, save Grosvenor Hall.

All the while Charles J. Campbell’s stone face looked out from above the door.

Next week, the walls of the Old Post Office fall but community spirit rises.