Extended Heritage Week photo display returning to Lambton Mall in Sarnia

An annual display of photographs via Sarnia’s heritage committee is returning to Lambton Mall for the first time since 2020.

“We’re glad to be back,” said Max Williams, a staff liaison with the committee of council that held Heritage Week photo displays for more than 25 years before the event was sidelined by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021 and 2022.

Some 70 percent of the committee’s 500-photograph collection is catalogued, laminated and ready for display, Williams said, noting there’s not enough room to show them all.

People this year will also have longer to view what does go on display, he added.

The heritage committee’s photo and information exhibit runs from Thursday to Sunday, and then Fridays to Sundays until March 26, Williams said.

Normally held in the mall’s hallways, this year the display, which also includes information and items from the Lambton County Archives and historical video footage, will be in a storefront beside the Coles book store.

Having it in a storefront gives access to electrical outlets, allowing the video displays while providing better security since photos have been stolen in the past, he said.

The past response to the displays has typically been positive, he said.

“Especially for the older folks who like to have a look at what used to be and educate some of their descendants … friends and family as to what Sarnia used to be like.”

Most photos depict places in the city that no longer exist, while others are of historical buildings and sites that are still standing, he said.

“It provides a historical photographic snapshot of what the city used to be like,” he said.

There will also be information available about the committee, as well as the preservation and designation of heritage properties.

“People may live in a heritage home and would like to replace windows or porches and things of that nature, and have no idea how they could do that with today’s technology and still maintain the heritage characteristics of the building,” Williams said.

“So we provide them with guidance on some of the materials they could use, and also lead them to contractors and people still in the industry who could preserve and restore heritage features without compromising that heritage characteristic.”

The city has 28 heritage-designated sites, Williams noted.

“Thirteen of them are residential dwellings. The rest are sites” like the Lochiel Kiwanis Community Center or gates at the entrance to Canatara Park, he said.

Sarnia has more than 200 heritage properties on a 2010 registry and 30 on a Sarnia Heritage Walking Tour.

More details are available at sarnia.ca/doing-business/cultural-heritage.

Changes under recent More Homes Built Faster legislation mean buildings have to be removed from municipal heritage inventories if not designated within two years, Williams said.

“It’s a major problem for all municipalities in Ontario right now,” he said.

[email protected]