(PHOTO: Norma and Eldon Craig inside the old farmhouse. The couple sold the property 12 years ago. Eldon passed away in 2016 at the age of 91.)
Laurie Fagan from CBC Ottawa interviewed Norma Craig, former owner of the Bradley-Craig farm on Hazeldean Road:
At 86, Norma Craig has grown accustomed to seeing the landscape change around her, and insists she’s not the sort to dwell in the past.
Nevertheless, Craig has grown increasingly concerned about the fate of an old dairy barn on Hazeldean Road in Stittsville, where her ancestors settled more than 200 years ago.
The big red barn, now 145 years old, is about all that’s left of the farmstead where Craig was born and lived most of her life. In recognition of its place in local history, the city designated the barn under the Ontario Heritage Act in 2010.
Then two years ago, Richcraft Homes, which now owns the land, got permission from city council to dismantle the Bradley-Craig barn and carefully reconstruct it at Saunders Farm, a agricultural tourism site in Munster famous for its haunted hayrides.
But Sunday’s deadline for the developer to act on its promise came and went, and the barn, which is deteriorating swiftly, remains where it’s always been.
UPDATE: CBC also posted an audio interview with the late Eldon Craig, recorded in 2003.