Restore the Shakesides House on the Merville Hall Grounds

In 1973, just over 50 years ago, famous Comox Valley naturalist, ornithologist, artist and photographer Hamilton Mack Laing donated in trust his seaside home and property, known to the community as 'Shakesides', to the Town of Comox for the public to enjoy, as long as the land was kept in a natural state and Shakesides was turned into a natural history museum.

But the museum never happened and the house was rented to various tenants for the next 32 years. After the last tenant left in 2014, no upkeep occurred at Shakesides and the town council proposed to demolish Shakesides rather than convert it to a museum.

The Merville Community Association has now offered to “adopt” the building onto its community hall site, to be renovated and to sit alongside other historic buildings it has previously saved. International house movers, Nickel Bros., has proposed relocation by barge, a plan that represents the least disruptive relocation process.

This proposed relocation and rehabilitation project is a “happy ending” story for all involved. Saving an existing building diverts the majority of its materials from the landfill. The new high-visibility location in Merville is very accessible and this growing collection of historic buildings stands to tell the unique history of this valley. Shakesides would be an incredible added asset to this valuable and well-run community site and would respect the legacy of Mack Laing who envisioned his home being partially used as a museum, for environmental education and research.

Shakesides is a Canadian heritage building. It is true that knowledge of our past helps to define us as Canadians and, in times like these, we are proud to be Canadians.

The Merville Community Association is looking for donations to help us make this exciting opportunity a reality.

More information about the Merville Community Association can be found on our website https://mervillehall.ca/