Birdhouse City

The late Doug Harnes, a former superintendent with the Prince Edward Region Conservation Authority had a gift when it came to working with wood.

Early mornings would often find him at the P.E.R.C.A. workshop turning out another one of his creations on the shop's wood lathe. He was especially gifted at creating elaborate pieces of work, using only scrap pieces of wood; his wooden miniature bowls and ornamental curios became legendary. It was through Doug's interest in wood and his appetite for creativity, that Birdhouse City was born.

The project started with a re-creation of the historic Massassauga Park Hotel. The birdhouse is a massive 80-room structure measuring four feet by 54 inches, and supported by two poles. Over 3,000 miniature shingles were nailed on one by one on the roof, and the entire building was exact right down to the artistic scrolls on the roof top. Birdhouse City was created when it was decided that if one birdhouse looked good, then a few more would look even better. Designed as a community involvement project, schools, businesses, individuals and groups all got on the bandwagon, coming up with over 80 birdhouses, most of them reproductions of historic buildings and other recognizable structures.

Lakeshore Lodge(replica above) once operated at West Point (Sandbanks) between 1870 and 1972. It was the longest operating shoreline hotel in the county and attracted over a million visitors during its colourful history. Sat vacant for a decade and burned to the ground in 1983.

Signs such as Finch Avenue and Swallow Drive served to guide visitors around the complex, designed in the shape of a wagon wheel, much the same as the city of Goderich, with the courthouse forming the nucleus and side streets radiating out from the hub.

Since its creation in 1978, Birdhouse City has attracted thousands of people, and feature stories have appeared in publications from as far away as Montreal and Toronto. People have arrived by the car load and bus load. Numerous times it has been featured in TV documentaries and human interest broadcasts.

Time and elements, however, both have taken their toll. Unfortunately Birdhouse City was unable to escape the financial constraints of today. Many of the structures after more than a decade braving the elements started to show signs of disrepair. Clearly something needed to be done. An appeal to the public resulted in an active volunteer program getting started with the crumbling remains of birdhouses being adopted by interested individuals.

While some needed only a fresh coat of paint, others due to their intricate and detailed features, had to be completely replaced. Photos on file of the original structures aided the replacement of these derelict buildings by volunteers.

Today, Massassauga Park Hotel is open once again for tenants, the MacDonald's Restaurant Fly Through is functional, the town's Crystal Palace has received a facelift, the library is offering the latest in bird guides, the Prince Edward County Memorial Hospital looks after flying accidents, and the Nest in Peace funeral home takes care of the departed.

 In the last decade there has been some concern that Birdhouse City seems to have failed in its goal to attract many tenants. Given the popularity and number of nesting boxes already in the county, especially those designed to accommodate purple martins, its failure to attract many tenants is not surprising. Its success, however, as a community involvement project, both during its conception and now during its time of need, is very real. In addition, it has attracted thousands of people to Macaulay Mountain Conservation Area where they have learned about the conservation authority and its reasons for being. To that end, it has succeeded admirably.

Birdhouse City is located at Macaulay Mountain Conservation, on County Road 8 (Union Street, on the eastern outskirts of Picton, Ontario. For more information please contact Quinte Conservation at: quinteca@quinteconservation.ca.

Anyone interested in becoming involved as a member of the "Friends of Bird House City" organization can do so by calling Keith Taylor at (613) 476-7408.