The Municipalité régionale de comté (MRC) d’Argenteuil, the Municipality of Saint-André-d’Argenteuil, and the Musée régionale d’Argenteuil regional museum are calling on the Government of Canada to ensure the preservation and future of the Carillon Barracks National Historic Site.
The regional and municipal governments, and the museum are joining forces to ask the federal government to firmly commit to taking the necessary steps to ensure the sustainability of the historic building. MRC d’Argenteuil representatives met with all major party candidates in the federal election campaign on April 9 to make its priorities known and the preservation of the iconic building was at the top of the list. In March, Parks Canada confirmed its intention to have the electricity disconnected from the building, once the risk of flooding has passed for the 2025 season. The local governments and museum contend such a move would effectively mean abandoning the Carillon Barracks.
The MRC d’Argenteuil, Municipality of Saint-André-d’Argenteuil, and the Musée régionale d’Argenteuil regional museum consider it completely illogical, even indefensible, for Parks Canada to resign itself to the idea of abandoning this historic site after investing approximately $740,000 in emergency work in 2019–2020 to restore part of the foundation and the balcony, in addition to making the building flood-resilient. At its regular meeting on March 12, 2025, MRC d’Argenteuil MRC Council unanimously adopted a resolution urgently requesting the Minister responsible for National Historic Sites, the Honourable Steven Guilbeault, to intervene with Parks Canada to ensure the continued connection to the electrical grid and maintenance of the Carillon Barracks.
“The MRC calls on the federal government to assume its responsibilities regarding the preservation of this more than century-old building and to honor its duty of remembrance,” stated MRC d’Argenteuil Warden Scott Pearce.
The Carillon Barracks National Historic Site has been closed to the public since 2019, following spring floods that damaged the building. The Argenteuil Regional Museum, which occupied the site for 80 years, was forced to temporarily relocate and store its unique and exceptional collection, which is among the finest regional ethnological collections in Québec and Canada.
“Now relocated to Christ Church, now owned by the Municipality of Saint-André-d’Argenteuil, the Argenteuil Regional Museum is actively concerned about the fate of this historic monument where it was founded and wishes to continue to provide useful work and play an important role in the site’s vitality and occupation,” said museum President Luc A. Lépine.
For the MRC, municipality, and the Museum, there is no question of another historic building, owned by Parks Canada, being abandoned in the region. “After the closure of two buildings at the Carillon Canal National Historic Site, the superintendent’s house in the 1960s and the tax collector’s house in the 2000s, the community cannot tolerate another heritage building suffering the same fate. It is imperative that we find a lasting solution to ensure the conservation, use, and development of the Barracks for future generations,” said Saint-André-d’Argenteuil Mayor Stephen Matthews.
Built in 1836 on the banks of the Ottawa River, the Carillon Barracks has always been occupied; First to house military troops during the 1837 Rebellion, then to house officers of the Royal Staff Corps during the construction of the Long Sault canal system, originally designed for military purposes in the event of an American invasion. After the military’s departure in 1840, the building became a hotel, notably under the management of the Ottawa River Navigation Company, and then housed the Argenteuil County Historical Society Museum starting in 1938.
