Six of Niagara-on-the-Lake’s ordnance boundary stones, a collection of wartime geographical artifacts dating back to the 1800s, will be restored this fall.
During a heritage committee meeting on Oct. 2, committee members reviewed updates to the ordnance stones.
The six stones are set to undergo restoration this month with help from the Larocque Group of surveyors.
The stones were used in the 19th century to mark the boundaries of military property.
They are marked with an arrow pointing upward and the initials “BO,” which stands for Board of Ordnance, the British Crown’s custodian of military property from 1687 to 1855.
Along with Ted Rumble, a member of the Niagara Historical Society, municipal heritage staff will order fences and locates for the stones.
The six stones are located at Simcoe Park, the Charles Inn, the corner of Queen and Dorchester streets, the corner of Queen and Nassau streets and the corner of Prideaux and Simcoe streets.
Along with fences, a plaque is to be put up at Simcoe Park, said heritage planner Sumra Zia.
The restoration of the stones themselves, set to begin sometime in October, will involve temporarily removing the stones to be cleaned, and then placing them in a stabilized hole with a protective barrier around the stone.
“The process, while slow, is proceeding quite nicely,” said heritage committee member David Snelgrove.
Council allocated $7,500 this year to fix to restore the six stones after setting aside $5,000 for one stone last year.
Coun. Gary Burroughs estimates the whole project will cost even more than that, he said during the meeting.
Last year, Rumble and Larocque located ordnance stone one, marking 19 found stones — another 18 remain.
Richard Larocque, a land surveyor at Larocque Group, spoke with The Lake Report after uncovering stone one last year.
Even 200 years later, these stones are still important to understanding the past, he said.
