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Conceptual plan cuts Hermitage ruins down to size
(Ancaster News, Richard Leitner, Mar 20 2014)

A Hamilton Conservation Authority “conceptual plan” to stabilize Ancaster’s Hermitage ruins will keep the former stone mansion’s distinctive arched entranceway but knock down the rest to no more than about chest height.

Tony Horvat, director of land management, said the authority has been working with a heritage consultant on how to bring the crumbling ruins, including separate nursery and laundry outbuildings, to a safe level.

Authority directors voted last July to authorize staff to seek the necessary city and Niagara Escarpment Commission approvals to lower the remnants of the mansion, built in 1855 and destroyed by fire in 1934.

Acquired by the authority in 1972, the ruins are presently fenced to keep visitors out because their walls, which rise to a height of about 11 metres (35 feet), lean precariously in spots, requiring bracing to stop them from toppling over.

“You won’t see them more than four feet, other than around that arched doorway, because the bigger issue becomes kids climbing it and falling off,” Horvat told the authority’s conservation advisory board, which unanimously backed plan.

“Right now, it’s shown as kind of one height. The final design may vary somewhat based on how bad the wall foundations are in places and how the costs are,” he said.

“We’re trying to keep the desirable elements and spend the money on the archway and certain other features, versus every section of wall.”

Horvat said the project is scheduled to be completed over two years and will cost an estimated $144,000 to $194,000.


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