Community open house to celebrate Brock’s historic Theal House

MEDIA RELEASE – January 16, 2025 – R0008

The oldest building on Brock University’s main campus is opening its doors to the community next week to highlight its rich past and celebrate its future.

As part of the University’s 60th anniversary celebrations, the Environmental Sustainability Research Centre (ESRC) is inviting students, staff, faculty, alumni and community members to pay a visit to Theal House.

Located between the Community Garden and the Zone 3 parking lot, the building has been home to several Brock departments since the 1960s.

While many have wondered at its quaint appearance over the years, few will have been inside, especially since the ESRC moved in and completed an environmentally sustainable renovation in keeping with the principles of their research and teaching.

ESRC Director Julia Baird says the Centre is eager to welcome visitors from Theal House’s past, present and future to the open house to share their stories — whether they practised musical instruments with the St. Catharines Symphony, dropped beats for CFBU 103.7 or stopped in to pay off a parking ticket.

“Our research centre does a great deal of community-engaged work, and with Brock’s 60th anniversary this year, we saw the perfect opportunity to engage with the community by asking them to come in and see what Theal House looks like today,” says Baird. “We also want to hear their stories; we all benefit from understanding how the community is connected to this place.”

Guests from Niagara Parks, the Town of Lincoln and the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority will be in attendance, as well as local historians, senior leaders from Brock and ESRC graduate students. But she hopes that many surprise visitors will help shed a light on how Theal House has been a unique and integral part of Brock’s campus for the past six decades.

Theal House will be open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 22. Special guests will speak starting at 11 a.m. and refreshments will be served throughout the day.

Canada Games Park is kindly providing courtesy parking to community visitors in their front lot for the duration of the open house.

For more information or for assistance arranging interviews:

*Sarah Ackles, Communications Specialist, Brock University sackles@brocku.ca or 289-241-5483

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