REBUILDING OUR WATERS:
An alternative view of Ontario cottage country through models of community engagement and shared environmental stewardship.
Abstract
Cottaging is a ‘summer-home’ tradition for many Canadian families and plays an important role in Ontario’s cultural and provincial identity. The North-Hastings – East Haliburton area is a popular cottage destination; however it is also a place of struggle and hardship. There are socioeconomic and geographical tensions resulting from inequalities between local residents, Indigenous communities, seasonal cottagers, and the ecological landscape. This thesis considers each group’s history, contemporary situation, and social relationships within the context of the broader region. In the early research stage, a contentious through-line became immediately evident across each stakeholder group: that is the lake, its shores, and who can access them. Here, architecture navigates these complex social dynamics by reimaging shoreline locations as models for community engagement and shared environmental stewardship. Four design proposals were developed in conjunction with real-world community initiatives at sites along Baptiste Lake, Ontario. Each concept addresses one of the stakeholder’s plights while still being open to all other groups. The goal has been to create spaces that celebrate the landscape without forgetting the people integral to its formation and continued survival. So far very little research has been conducted about Southern Ontario cottaging and its effects on local communities. Their struggles are often glossed over or outright ignored in municipal planning and property development. Although these proposals are hypothetical, they work to motivate realistic change in Ontario’s cottage country.
Children’s Library
“Picture a calm summer afternoon beside the lake. You are walking hand in hand with your kid along the brand-new boardwalk as the sun rises high into the sky. As you start walking back to toward a large turf roofed building other children can be seen running along the grassy eave above the front door. Other families are also enjoying the day; one couple grabs a canoe from the communal rack and a father and son splash around by the dock. This idyllic scene embodies the communal ambitions of the Children’s Library where any stakeholder can access Batiste Lake and spend the day basking along its shores.”
Native Plants Nursery
“In the Baptiste Village about a fifteen-minute drive from downtown Bancroft, exists a public boat launch with a funny little hill beside it. Upon closer inspection the top of the hill is covered in hundreds of plants and gardeners can be seen plucking weeds. Around the corner, melded into the side of the berm, a long-integrated greenhouse contains even more foliage. A small glass door opens and young staff member, with a bag of mulch, disappears behind the berm, into the greenhouse. Other people can be seen perusing the planters, looking at shrubs, while a helpful clerk answers all their questions.”
Local’s Lodge
“On the far shore a collection of auburn cabins accented with white window frames, dot the shoreline. A large pine casts a lazy shadow over a little sand beach where two kids are making sandcastles with a pail. Over on the cement dock two fishermen argue over who caught the biggest fish while another family splashes around the floating raft. This nostalgic scene could be found on any souvenir shop post card in cottage country. However, this is the Local’s Lodge: a refurbished hunting lodge from the 1960s, but with all the modern amenities. A place where tourists and locals can enjoy the splendor of the iconic Canadian lake, like the generations before them.”
High Falls Lookout
“Approaching from the water, in a small canoe the water just ends. The sounds of a rushed deluge can be heard over the voices of picnickers and swimmers who are careful not to get too close to the water’s edge. Looming over it all is a stoic monument reminiscent of the great white pines harvested so long ago. It a different atmosphere than what you are used too: High Falls Dam has always been a fun little excursion where you might see some fish hopping over the surf. Now it is so much more. From atop the tower the whole expanse can be seen. The beginning and end of Baptiste Lake. A place where the past is not forgotten or washed away.”
Want to learn more?
To view the whole thesis. please check-out the University of Waterloo’s Institutional Repository.
