Bellevue House National Historic Site in Kingston, Ontario is rethinking how it tells the story of a former prime minister/Parks Canada

Canadians are being asked to weigh in on a new management plan for Bellevue House National Historic Site, the only historic site solely dedicated to exploring the complex legacy of Sir John A. Macdonald.

Parks Canada says it’s committed to telling the full scope of the story about the country’s first prime minister, a Father of Confederation who died in 1891. It has been working with Indigenous groups, stakeholders and other experts for several years “to change and renew how the stories and history at Bellevue House are presented in the context of the present.”

Bellevue House was built in Kingston, Ontario in the 1840s and was home to Macdonald at the beginning of his political career when he was a corporate lawyer. Macdonald helped create residential schools that forcibly separated Indigenous children from their families and sent them to boarding schools where they were often abused and humiliated. His legacy is under fire as thousands of bodies of Indigenous children are being found in unmarked graves at the site of former residential schools. Across Canada, statues of Macdonald have been vandalized and doused with red paint.

The new  management plan will set the site's direction for the next decade.

Staff at Bellevue House National Historic Site in Kingston/Parks Canada

Bellevue House, in a quiet residential community, is also undergoing structural repair and restoration. The first phase of this was completed in 2020. Phase 2, the renewal of the visitor experience and interpretive elements inside the building, is expected to be implemented by spring 2023.

“The renewal of the visitor experience at Bellevue House will strive to convey Macdonald’s complex legacy and offer a place where Canadians can gain a greater understanding of Canada's history, including aspects that have caused enduring harm,” Parks Canada said in a news release.

The historic house is an example of Italianate architecture in the Picturesque manner and was built in the Tuscan Villa style between 1838 and 1840. There is a modern visitor centre with exhibits, and grounds that include heritage gardens and an heirloom orchard. 

The draft management plan has proposed three objectives.

First, it wants to portray "an evolving understanding" of Macdonald's legacy. "People settling before or during Confederation would have experienced Macdonald, and those times, very differently than Indigenous groups," notes the plan. "Decisions regarding Confederation also left women and minority groups out of the democratic process. Some elements of Macdonald's legacy are challenging to acknowledge and to present."

Parks Canada plans to open dialogues with local Indigenous groups, launch regular meetings with Indigenous and multicultural groups, and join the  International Coalition of Sites of Conscience.

A second key strategy is to become an active community partner and  become a leading Kingston heritage attraction by 2024.

A third key strategy is to offer a renewed heritage experience. This means renewing and reburbishing the house, and pursuing new programming and presentation styles. By 2025, Bellevue House hopes to have a long-term maintenance plan in place "that supports the reduction of operational greenhouse gas emissions and which adds resiliency to the site in a changing climate." The site, a small urban property, has little natural habitat but some mature trees.

Parks Canada hopes a broad range of people will participate in the consultation process. To get the draft plan, email [email protected]. Online sessions will take place in English on Feb. 23 from 7 to 9 p.m., and in French on Feb. 24 from 7 to 9 p.m. People should register at least 24 hours in advance to receive the meeting’s connection details.

Feedback can also be shared by email, with an online questionnaire, or by mailing: Public Consultations – Bellevue House NHS, 35 Centre St., Kingston, Ontario, K7L 4E5.

The results of this engagement will help finalize the management plan before it's approved and tabled in Parliament. Reviewed every 10 years, management plans are a legislative requirement of the Parks Canada Agency Act and guide the management of Parks Canada administered places.

Bellevue House typically draws about 20,000 visitors between mid-May and mid-October. Since most visitors are over 45, or families, and mainly from Ontario, Parks Canada has launched millennial-focused guided tours and knows it needs accessible, barrier-free experiences.