'An honour': Holland College students to restore pair of Province House windows

Two hefty pieces of P.E.I. history have been transported to the heritage retrofit carpentry workshop at Holland College in Charlottetown, to be worked on by students of the program.

The pair are 175-year-old windows from Province House National Historic Site.

"It's kind of an honour," said student Ashley Langdon. 

"Honestly just being able to have them in the shop and being around them, because it's a huge part of our history here."

As part of a massive conservation project currently underway at Province House — known as the historic birthplace of Canada, in addition to being the seat of P.E.I.'s provincial legislature — Parks Canada teamed up with Holland College for some of the work.

Students will be repairing and patching two of the 101 windows that belong to the historic building. The rest are being restored by a private contractor. 

Landgon hopes to someday make a career out of repairing doors and windows — and said she couldn't have asked for a better way to train. 

"That building is going to be there for a long time past this," said Langdon. "And every time we drive by it we can say 'We helped build that, we did those windows.' It is very special." 

Josh Silver, learning manager for the heritage retrofit carpentry program at Holland College, said the partnership with Parks Canada was established in 2015, when both parties agreed that the restoration of Province House would mean unique opportunities for students.  

"This is the kind of project that will be on their resumé for the rest of their lives," said Silver.

"And really set the path for what they're going to be doing for the rest of their career. If they can handle this type of project, with national and international standards of scrutiny, they can handle anything."

The two windows are from a portion of the building that is adjacent to the front door, so they will be easy to spot once the restoration work is complete.

'It's a deep honour'

Silver said it's a thrill to have the historic windows in his shop. 

"It's a deep honour," said Silver.  

"The trees that were grown to build the windows behind me would have been growing in the 1700s, someone touched and built those windows about 175 years ago, and we're the second generation of people to touch those windows."

As part of the project, students were visited this week by Octavio Salcedo, a Montreal-based carpenter with a background in architecture, who is also assisting with the restoration of the remaining 99 windows. 

He said it's important to understand how the work was done, so he's sharing some of his knowledge with students before they get started on the project.

"This is a privilege for all of us, including myself, to be part of this conservation," said Salcedo.

"Craftsmanship is the key for the longevity of this woodwork, so that is why we're trying to do our best in this, in our time, to contribute to that."

It should take about two weeks for students in the program to complete the work. 

The windows are scheduled to be installed in the building at the end of the summer. Until then, they'll be kept in a safe storage crate at Holland College. 

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