Old Boys’ Entrance mural unveiled inside restored building

Administrator | Jun 22, 2026 | Comments 0

Story and photos by Sharon Harrison
While there has been focus on the Prince Edward Old Boys’ Memorial Entrance exterior recently (with its shiny new roof and overall maintenance), it was the building’s interior that was being shown off on Sunday afternoon.

In a special ceremony inside the little restored building that sits on Picton Main Street within the fairgrounds site, a specially-designed mural depicting military history in the County and commemorating the history of the Picton Fair was unveiled to the public.

The building was originally built as a memorial to those from the County who had been killed in the First World War.

It was a small, but important gathering, that included County councillor Janice Maynard (representing County mayor Steve Ferguson) and councillor Phil St-Jean, with Royal Canadian Legion members Diane Kennedy (outgoing Picton branch 78 president), Philip Dawson (incoming president) and Mitch Smith (first vice-president, Wellington branch 160). Also present were those County staff members who had a role in making the restoration and the mural happen, among others.

With the new mural are Philip Dawson (incoming Picton Legion branch president), councillor Phil St-Jean, councillor Janice Maynard, Diane Kennedy (outgoing Picton Legion branch president) and Mitch Smith (first vice-president Wellington Legion branch), with Harold (far left)

As part of a collaboration between the County’s public art program (the first public artwork for this new program), in partnership with Royal Canadian Legion Branch 78 Picton, the mural was painted by Montreal-based muralist Jason Wasserman, who designed and painted the work in a bold black and white style, with support from County-based muralist, Jamie Janx Johnston. Neither artist was present for the official unveiling.

Chris Palmer, the County’s museums and cultural services supervisor, explained how the mural is the first larger-scale project for the County’s public art program and involved working directly with the community, “which is what this building really represents”, he said.

Palmer also spoke to the how the public engagement worked, noting the community suggested a mural or something that tells the story of the whole space.

“This is a very special space for the County, not just this building, but the grounds that it’s on,” Palmer said. “From that, we were able to work with our public art team to find an artist who could tell a whole bunch of stories in a very small confined space, and Jason Wasserman is a specialist at that.”

The mural came together after just two iterations.

“I was very impressed with that as I’ve never seen an artist take public consultation so well and then apply it to their work right away, so that the vision was not his, but that unified community vision that you see,” Palmer continued. “And that went up on the wall as it is, in about a week and they were working about 10 hours a day.”

He said, it has been a great process all the way through on how a community comes together to get a project off the ground, both from the building, all the way up to the mural stage.

Kennedy said the mural speaks for itself.

“The mural depicts the history of the fair, the history of the military, it is a heritage building, and going forward, we would like to make the building useful so it doesn’t fall into disrepair again,” she said. “If the public knows, and we use it, make this the entrance to the fair again with a little walkway here.”

The idea to get the building restored and bring back its significance to the community began some years ago when Kennedy and Maynard were talking about how that could be achieved, but the process only really began about three years ago.

Council ultimately provided $50,000 to get the building (designated a heritage building in 1990) fixed-up, including the roof, the door, the floor and the windows.

“Although the County did restore the building nicely, but the mural, the Legion sponsored that and they raised a bunch of money, and this is the result,” said Maynard.

“It was hard work because it was dirty and it was moldy and there was a hole, and it was in a horrible mess; it would have deteriorated into falling down,” Kennedy noted. “I am more than pleased it turned out really well. The whole building, it’s a showcase, we’ve just got to figure out how to keep using it; if we use it, I’m sure it will continue to maintained.”

The Canadian government’s veterans’ page notes that “In May, 1920, a Prince Edward County Memorial Committee was formed consisting of representatives from the Great War Veterans Association, the Prince Edward County Old Boys Association, the Prince Edward County Agricultural Society, and others. This committee was to make a recommendation to the County council. Eventually, after a proposal to build a memorial hall was turned down, it was agreed to have a monument erected.

In the meantime, the Old Boys went ahead and erected War Memorial Gates and a fence on their own on the Prince Edward Agricultural Society Grounds before the memorial was built. These gates were later removed and replaced with a chain link fence. The pedestrian gate and the ticket office with the Old Boys sign remained.”

This mural sets a meaningful tone for how we share our stories and showcase our heritage, Kennedy added.

“This mural brings those stories together in a more modern fashion, and we hope that we will be able to use it for educational purposes, and that it will be able to bring history alive for the next generation “which will bring reflection and pride for years to come”.

Mark Gilbert, facilities supervisor with the County, spoke to the restoration efforts, saying how the roof is a composite metal roofing (which is expected to last 40 years). He said the door is the only part that was still original to the building (they think), with the hardware and the condition and period of the wood. Although he said it was not really a period correct door, but Gilbert explained that it may have been something they had available to them when they first built it, so they left it as original as possible.

“The roof came in at around half the budget, so we were able to use the remainder of the budget to work on the inside of the building,” he shared. “The floors you are standing on are the original floors that were in the building, and the team undermined the corner of the building to do some structural work underneath, because we weren’t able to lift the flooring because of the damage, and the tongue and groove, we were never going to be able to match it, so we got a lot of bracing from underneath without actually working on the flooring.”

He said the building was re-insulated and re-wired, and during this process they uncovered the studding and determined from the nail space and the thickness of the boarding, they were able to match it as closely to original as possible, continued Gilbert. The building has timer lighting so the mural (and the building) can be seen at night, and it also has unbreakable windows.

“We are very keen on this building. It was built by a group of fellows who really wanted to say something and look after it as a community structure, and it’s still exactly that, so we really kept the heart and feel of the space,” added Palmer.

Kennedy pointed out that people don’t know about the history of the building or the significance of it.

“I’d like the whole community to realize that this is a war memorial to the veterans out of the First World War, and make it so the building is useful again, and teach our children and that’s basically the reason because it is part of our community, the history of the fair, and the history of the military here in the County.”

“I think the important thing is make the building useful, and if it is being used, it will be kept up,” concluded Kennedy. “This is like the icing on the cake, its absolutely beautiful; this is awesome, I am really pleased.”