Jail House Rocks

former jail - cleans up pretty well

Our recent Glanmore volunteer development trip took us to Napanee (one of my favourite small towns), to the newly expanded Lennox and Addington Museum and Archives. Manager Jane Foster, Curator JoAnne Himmelman and Archivist Shelley Respondek spoke to the group about each area; I can't wait to go back to explore the reading room and museum more fully.

 adjacent registry office 

For starters, the updated museum houses a great display of Napanee's legendary Gibbard furniture, a proud piece of the history-minded town's past.

The museum was first opened in 1978 in the town's recently vacated 1860's jail, an idea for adaptive re-use which raised eyebrows when it was first proposed, but which turned out brilliantly. It opened in 2014. Here's a link to the story.

jailhouse Juliet balcony?

As the museum and archives collections grew, and more space was needed, an equally brilliant addition was conceived by the Ventin Group of architects, who successfully integrated old limestone walls with light and wood elements, resulting in a bright and welcoming archives with state of the art storage. Bravo Napanee council, which prepared for the project by saving up funds over a number of years to put this idea in place.

Lennox and Addington courthouse 1860s

A real go-to regional research facility. Loads of engaging public programs. If you can't get there in person, here's a link to their outstanding E-history Project.

Another reason to love Napanee.