A remarkable transformation is currently underway in Greater Napanee.
As part of the municipality’s planned revitalization of Market Square, Napanee’s Town Hall is receiving a major facelift.
The brick building is being repainted this summer, however, once the job is done, the National Historic Site will resemble its original look.
The Town Hall was painted white several years ago but a unique painting technique is being employed by The Brick Painters Ltd.
Napanee Town Hall before restoration work began in the summer of 2024. (Photo: submitted)
Matt “Woody” Woodworth is the company’s owner and CEO and says their company is honoured to be part of such an exciting project that will bring a lot of value to the community.
“What we do is we actually touch every single brick on the building several times – some of them up to eight times – to give them that natural, authentic, historic as-it-was-once look and appearance. It’s a faux finish that makes it look like real brick.”
Woodworth says painting over brick was once a popular way to update a building but over the last several years, many have been looking at ways to restore buildings to their former glory.
“As part of our process we’ve developed over the last many years is we actually put a finishing touch on the building at the end of it to give it that aged look so that it doesn’t look like someone just resurfaced or rebricked their building with brand new brick. It’s called a patina which gives it that aged look.”
Woodworth says the cost is a small fraction of other restoration techniques like sandblasting and chemical stripping.
Napanee Town Hall at the beginning of exterior restoration work in the summer of 2024. (Photo: submitted)
He notes those methods can also be destructive to the original brick and mortar and result in a hefty repair bill once the paint is removed.
“It’s just a lot quicker, it’s a lot less expensive and it just looks absolutely fantastic. So for us it’s really a labour of love to bring back the main streets and the town halls and the historic buildings to really what they once looked like. It’s a labour of love, it’s a passion of ours.”
The Brick Painters have teams based out of Ottawa and Peterborough but their work takes them all over southern Ontario.
Woodworth’s cousin, Peter Woodworth, who founded the company and developed their technique, has been overseeing the Napanee project.
Woodworth says there’s been a lot of interest in their work in Napanee.
“People have driven from as far as Orillia to come and see what we’re doing in Napanee so that they can bring that same kind of attraction to their town too. So Greater Napanee is really setting the stage for what the possibilities can look like for other communities across Ontario as well.”
Woodworth expects the Greater Napanee Town Hall project to be finished in the next three to four weeks, taking a total of about 3 1/2 to four months to complete.
