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History
5 facts
| Date | Statement | Source | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1943 | The Barry's Bay railway water tower, now "Canada's last existing wooden railway water tower", "was erected in 1943". The year is the councillor's as reported by the Leader in 2000. | Eganville Leader 2000-10-18(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1975-10-08≥ | By 8 October 1975 (the issue date), the paper reported: Following word that "the village of Barry's Bay had called tenders for the demolition of the old water tank located along the C.N.R. railway", a group of citizens and Madawaska Valley District High School history teachers and students petitioned to have "the huge tank" saved and repaired. "The old CN water tower in Barry's Bay has been given a reprieve by Barry's Bay village council": a delegation of the Committee To Save The Water Tower attended the council meeting on Monday night with a petition of 600 names, and "convinced council not to destroy the historic landmark, which is scheduled to be demolished". Two items about one proceeding, filed as one fact. The items call it the old water tank and the old water tower. | Eganville Leader 1975-09-24(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...),Eganville Leader 1975-10-08(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1976 | The Barry's Bay water tower, "almost demolished in 1975", was saved when "a petition was started to save the tower and a year later it was designated a historical landmark, ensuring it would never be demolished." The 1976 year is derived (inference): the item says the designation came "a year later" than the 1975 near-demolition. The 1975 petition is filed from the Eganville Leader of September and October 1975. | Eganville Leader 2000-10-18(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 2000-10-18≥ | By 18 October 2000 (the issue date), the paper reported: "Canada's last existing wooden railway water tower has been completely restored and is now part of a beautiful park in Barry's Bay." The tower was dedicated, village councillor John Yakabuski acting as master of ceremonies; the Barry's Bay Railway Station Restoration Committee was organized in 1989 and "in 1998 a group which came out of this committee decided to preserve the water tower and make the area around it more appealing." | Eganville Leader 2000-10-18(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 2026-07-27 | "Barry's Bay's iconic wooden water tower, the last of its kind in the province, will receive rehabilitation work this summer. Work commenced on Monday July 27 and is expected to wrap up in September." The tower "was purchased by the Town of Barry's Bay once it was no longer in use by CN in the 1970s, and underwent significant rehabilitation in the 1980s"; in 2023 the Township contracted a structural assessment finding that the timber support structure needed replacement, in 2024 it completed a cultural heritage assessment report, and last year it had engineered drawings completed. The notice says rehabilitation in the 1980s, where an Eganville Leader item of 2000 dates the restoration to the late 1990s. | Madawaska Valley 2026-07-27(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Railway Items...) |