Natural & Cultural Heritage

Follow Up and New Initiatives

Natural and Cultural Heritage Conservation includes efforts made by municipal, corporate (including all forms of local businesses) and private citizens to preserve heritage within their community. Heritage policies, by-laws and natural heritage management plan. Preservation and restoration of buildings, homes, churches, monuments, artifacts, sites, parks, heritage gardens, trees et cetera. Interpretative, cultural heritage, signage, Open Door programs and initiatives. Preservation of traditions and customs, festivals/celebrations, heritage foods and the arts. Historical Society, Heritage Advisory Committee.

"This City is blessed with a very good mix of the old and the new. Importantly the citizens and Council wants to ensure that its history is preserved and/or enhanced. The number of buildings designated both on a local level and by Historic Places of Canada is very commendable". (Matt Rosen, Dave Hilton, 2006)

In 2006, the City in National Competition received the highest mark among competing municipalities in the Judging Category Natural and Cultural Heritage Conservation. Not content to rest on this success, we have continued our efforts to protect and promote the ‘roots’ of our cultural and natural landscapes and the values we embrace.

In 2007, High school art students in partnership with the Peterborough Downtown Business Association and Peterborough Archives produced a series of banners that show selected buildings in their original built condition. The banners were displayed downtown in front of the original building so that viewers would have a sense of the downtown landscape then and now. For 2008 banners by the students celebrate Communities in Bloom.

The restoration of the Market Hall continues. The south and west elevations have now been completed. The work included replication of ornate metalwork features, masonry repairs, and the reinstallation of several monumental windows in the southeast tower. In 2008, work will be undertaken to reconstruct the original storefront design and stabilize areas of the south entrance to the building that has lost its structural integrity. This work prepares the structure for a multi-million dollar renovation to the Market Hall Performing Arts Centre. The theatre has occupied the second floor of Market Hall for nearly 30 years.

The City continues to celebrate our heritage will a large selection of murals on a grand scale. By using vertical space on commercial buildings local, artists have found a way to integrate art and heritage into the built landscape of the community. More than 20 murals tell about our heritage for all to see.


The City is now in conformity with the Provincial Policy Statements that archaeology resources shall be conserved with the completion of this comprehensive policy exercise. Beyond the corporate policy document the plan includes extensive background material that presents the history of occupation of the area and outlines the types of resources likely to be encountered. Guidelines underpin the policy requirements and provide a clear understanding of how to proceed with the archaeology process. The plan also includes a state of the art computer predictive model that maps a wide array of data layers including soil types, hydrology and topography to generate an easily understood graphic display of the areas of highest potential for finding archaeology resources.

The City is committed to meeting the needs of its citizens. To this end the production of affordable housing has become a Council priority and some of the most successful projects are the conversion of heritage buildings into efficient and unique affordable dwelling units. These undertakings include the reuse of an array of heritage facilities: a woolen mill, nationally significant for the labour history associated with it, the City’s original “Protestant Home”, a grand edifice overlooking the Otonabee River and St. Peter’s Elementary School the auditorium of which will be converted to a multiple loft units. In each case the creative use of a unique space has cost-effectively produced attractive homes for families and helped to preserve the built heritage.

In March of 2007, the Peterborough Museum & Archives received the prestigious ‘Award of Outstanding Achievement for Conservation’ from the Canadian Museum Association for ground breaking work in the restoration of 30,000 photographic negatives damaged during Peterborough’s 2004 city-wide flood. The restoration techniques pioneered by the Peterborough Museum & Archives will benefit museums and archives around the world.

In recognition of its 40th anniversary, the Peterborough Museum & Archives planned an ambitious schedule of events for 2007. “Stories From Near and Afar”, a major temporary exhibition featured highlights from the Museum & Archives’ varied and significant collection (one of the oldest collections among Ontario community museums.) The exhibit entertained audiences while bringing Peterborough’s stories to life.