'Layers of history in there': Former Wright Brothers store receiving major facelift

For the past few weeks, carpenters have been making structural repairs to stabilize a historic barn in the centre of Victoria, P.E.I.

The now hollowed-out barn dates back to the late 1800s and was used as a warehouse for the Wright Brothers General Store for many years. The property has been recognized as a significant Canadian historic site and example of an early commercial building.

It's now past its heyday, gathering cobwebs and sitting dormant for almost 30 years until recently.

The building is being reinforced from the ground up — receiving a major facelift from its owner, who also happens to own a chocolate shop next door in the original Wright Brothers General Store location.

"You see more and more old buildings going down and when they're gone, it's gone," says Linda Gilbert, owner of Island Chocolates.

"I don't think there's a real appreciation, but I hope that people who see it will enjoy it." 

'It's good to save them'

Gilbert said she's spent about $100,000 so far installing solar panels, a metal roof, foundation and new sill plates.

In the building's rehaul, carpenters Eric Gilbert and Billy McQuarrie have discovered some fascinating features, peeling back decades of history.

"You can see the layers of history in there," Gilbert said.

"Square nails, old jars, just the barn boards, some of them are almost two feet and you don't see wood like that too often like that anymore."

They've also discovered that the names of some customers, and what they spent on supplies, still remain on some of the boards and beams.

"There used to be barns in almost every yard … and they're all gone," he added.

"It's good to save them. Once they're gone, they're gone."

Gilbert and MacQuarrie will spend the next few weeks finishing stabilizing the structure, then enclosing it before winter.

'We need to really preserve it'

According to local historian Brenda MacQuarrie Boudreau, Victoria was "a thriving village" from the late 1800s right through until the 1950s. 

She said her grandfather operated the store in 1905 and seeing the once-prominent structure rebuilt is "thrilling."

"This is a big, giant step forward in preserving a heritage building with so much significance to the life of the village," MacQuarrie Boudreau said.

"I feel our heritage here in Victoria is fragile … people say they come here, they're drawn here by the heritage aspect of our village, and so we need to really preserve it."

The Wright Brothers store was at the centre of the village on Main Street, with the village pump resting in front of the store and the post office across the street, MacQuarrie Boudreau explained.

"You get your groceries, your water and your gossip all in one stop," she said.

A future gathering place?

Linda Gilbert hasn't decided what the former warehouse will be when construction is completed.

However, one idea she's considering is a farmer's market, which could be a gathering place in the village.

• MORE P.E.I News | Magdalen Islands committee fearful of ferry revamp
• MORE P.E.I News | Aylward, Trivers review key issues en route to leadership finale