To the untrained eye it may look like an art installation, but white hammocks put up in the Aberdeen Pavilion’s ceiling have a more pressing purpose: to catch water before it drips on people below.
The city says they are “temporary water diversion systems in order to prevent roof leaks from affecting the underlying building components.”
The hammocks have tubes attached so water can flow down into buckets tucked into the corners of the building.
The Aberdeen Pavilion, built in 1898, is a National Historic Site and was known as the “Cattle Castle.” It also hosted hockey games and was a gathering spot for troops before heading off to war.
“It has a rich history both nationally and locally and we want to continue to put money in to make sure the building is safe and sound, which it is, and that we minimize the leaks but at the end of the day this is a barn and it doesn’t have the same attributes and same sealing as a modern building,” said Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson.
Watson helped save the Aberdeen Pavilion from being demolished in the 1990s.
“There’s no question we continue to do repairs and portions of the roof will need to be replaced and that’ll be an ongoing project for many years,” said Watson.
The city expects the roof repair to be designed within the next one to two years with construction after that and will take into account the building’s historical significance.
