There have been no problems for 24 years, but now the Wilmot Township fire department has closed the Story
Barn at Baden because the owners won’t invest to meet building and fire codes
for “occupancy assembly.”
It’s the third barn that has been used for community
gatherings to be targeted by the fire department. The Healing Barn near St.
Agatha and the White Barn near Shingletown have also been ordered to either
upgrade to meet the codes or close down.
People have been gatheirng around a pot-bellied stove, sipping cider and
sharing stories in the barn owned by Mary-Eileen McClear and her husband.
Rather than investing tens of thousands of dollars in the barn, they are moving their meetings to the Button Factory in
Waterloo, a building more than 120 years old. They have lined up enough space for up to 50 people to meet.
Carol Cressman-Foster closed her Healing Barn in August when the fire department said the facility fails to meet the fire and
building code standards for occupancy assembly.
She is awaiting a decision on her appeal to the Ontario Fire
Safety Commission.
The White Barn owners have also filed an appeal with the
commission and are awaiting a decision on an objection they raised over a lack
of a signature on the fire department’s order.
There is a political campaign underway, trying to persuade
Queen’s Park politicians to change the fire code regulations so barn owners can
continue to use them for family and community gatherings without having to
spend big bucks to meet occupancy assembly standards.
