The Renfrew County Courthouse is a designated heritage property and operational

courthouse A courthouse or court house is a building that is home to a local court of law and often the regional county government as well, although this is not the case in some larger cities. The term is common in North America. In most other English-spe ...

in Pembroke, Ontario, Canada.

Original building

The neoclassical complex includes three buildings: the courthouse itself, a registry office and a small

jail A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correc ...

. The courthouse was built from 1862 to 1866, the registry office from 1862 to 1868, and the jail from 1864 to 1866. As the Confederation of Canada occurred in 1867, the building is referred to as "Confederation-era". The original courthouse was designed by Henry Horsey. The registry office was built to the fire-prevention standards of the then-Chief Architect of Canada, Kivas Tully, who had an "obsession" with safety. The sandstone used in the original construction was quarried at nearby

Morrison Island L'Isle-aux-Allumettes is a municipality in the Outaouais region, part of the Pontiac Regional County Municipality, Quebec, Canada. The municipality consists primarily of Allumette Island (in French ''Île aux Allumettes''), and also includes Morri ...

. The County Atlas of 1881 describes the courthouse as "one of the finest in Canada, combining the features of chaste beauty with simple elegance of construction in a degree possessed by few if any others in the country." The exterior of the registry was re-bricked in the 1980s, and the heritage value suffered.

Designation

The complex is protected under the Cultural Heritage Protocol Agreement the Ministry of Tourism, Culture & Recreation and the Management Board Secretariat (Ontario Realty Corporation). It has not, however, been municipally designated under the ''

Ontario Heritage Act The ''Ontario Heritage Act'', (the ''Act'') first enacted on March 5, 1975, allows municipalities and the provincial government to designate individual properties and districts in the Province of Ontario, Canada, as being of cultural heritage ...

''.

2005 expansion

From 2005 to 2007, the building underwent significant heritage restoration. More than half of the original jail has been incorporated into the new facility. The renovation was led by NORR Limited Architects and Engineers. The new construction used limestone from Guelph, Ontario. It added to the 18,729 of the preserved historic buildings.

Awards

*In 2006, the

American Academy of Architects American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the " United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, ...

' Academy of Architecture for Justice awarded the courthouse a Certificate of Merit. *In 2009, the courthouse was named "The Office Building of the Year" by the Building Owners and Managers Association of Ottawa. The same association certified the courthouse as meeting its Building Environmental Standards for the 2008-09 fiscal year. *The

Ontario Association of Architecture Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Can ...

awarded the courthouse its "People's Choice" and "Design Excellence" awards in 2009.

Contemporary use

The renovated courthouse currently houses both a Superior Court of Justice and an Ontario Court of Justice, using its six courtrooms. It also has "two jury deliberation rooms, two settlement rooms, a victim/witness program office, Crown attorney offices and a secure vehicle drop-off point for in-custody individuals."

References

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External links

Celebration at award-winning Pembroke CourthouseThe Renfrew County Courthouse, winner of the 2009 OAA People's Choice Award
��Ontario Realty Corporation Government buildings completed in 1866 Buildings and structures in Renfrew County Courthouses in Canada Neoclassical architecture in Canada Pembroke, Ontario 1866 establishments in Canada