Iconic Barn Could Be History

It might not have housed Cam Fella, and he might not have paced around the track, but a historic barn and track in Southwestern Ontario with ties to The Pacing Machine could become a distant memory unless one man can convince town council to save the structure.

In Norwich, Ont., the municipality operates a barn and training track. With fewer tenants in the barn, and parking at a premium for the adjacent community centre, a motion was made to close the barn by the end of the year and essentially evict the tenants. The barn was donated to the town by Dr. William N. Meldrum, a member of the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame. In fact, the name of the park in Norwich is Dillon Park, named to honour his prized pacer Dillon Mc.

One trainer who was stabled at the Norwich fairgrounds in the past was Ed Arthur, the uncle and mentor of trainer Doug Arthur. Doug himself eventually trained at his farm outside Norwich and developed the likes of Cam Fella, Justin Passing, Mystery Skipper, Keystone Raider and Turola Hanover.

Former Standardbred industry participant Jim Casha, whose wife Roxanne used to work for Arthur, is hopeful that town council will reconsider demolishing a structure that, in his mind, isn't structurally unsound.

“Sometimes what appears old and broken down needs someone to look at it... and make it useful and productive again,” Casha told The Norwich Gazette. On Tuesday night, he'll pitch a proposal to council to turn the barn into an equine rehabilitation and sustainable agricultural learning centre. This would allow those individuals stabled there to remain on the premises and generate revenue for the township.

Many believe that Meldrum left the land where the arena, barn and track are presently situated to the township on the condition that the horse barn remain but any documentation to backup that agreement has yet to be discovered and officially presented.

“It's too bad really,” said Mayor Larry Martin. “It's kind of nice to have the horses there.”