Sharon Museum and Gardens

Museum Updates & News

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New and exciting updates to the Sharon Museum and Gardens site...

Proposed Site Rendering

SITE UPDATE

Sharon Museum and Gardens (SMG) (formerly Sharon Temple National Historic Site and Museum), in partnership with Welland Land Development, is thrilled to announce plans to construct a new visitor centre. This decision followed the tragic loss of the historic Stephen Howard Jr. House to fire on October 11th, 2024. With the support of the Town of East Gwillimbury, the historic house was slated to be relocated by Welland to the site of SMG to serve as a visitor centre. In the aftermath of this loss, Welland has stepped up to construct an entirely new visitor centre for SMG, which will support the Board of Directors’ bold strategic plans for the future of Sharon Museum and Gardens.

The Stephen Howard Jr. House was designated by the Town of East Gwillimbury as a property of cultural heritage, value, or interest in 2015. It was built in 1864 by Stephen Howard Jr., who was the son of an early Quaker settler in this area. Its destruction was a significant loss for the heritage of East Gwillimbury, as well as the Howard family, who (until recently) continuously lived in the house for nearly five generations. Another loss from its destruction was the future it offered to SMG as a visitor centre containing an expanded exhibit gallery, as well as additional storage for the museum’s collection. The Board of Directors at SMG are deeply grateful to the Town of East Gwillimbury for their continued support of the Howard House project.

The vision of a new visitor centre stems from a strategic plan established by SMG to govern the Museum from 2024 to 2027. As guided by the objectives outlined in this plan, the Museum intends to expand how we engage with the community and to enhance the functionality and interpretation of the site. The new visitor centre envisioned through this partnership between SMG and Welland will offer additional storage space for the Museum’s collection, significant exhibit space, programming space, and multipurpose space for community use and rental, operating as a place for the community of East Gwillimbury to come together, reflect, learn, and celebrate at.

“We were deeply saddened by the loss of Howard House in a fire on October 11, 2024. This unfortunate event has nullified our original relocation plan, which we were eagerly anticipating. In light of this loss, we have explored alternative options to honor our commitment to both the Town and SMG. We are pleased to share that SMG is satisfied with the new design of the Visitors' Centre, and our architectural team is currently refining the final details. We remain dedicated to positively contributing to our community and the Town.” - Henry Li, Representative for Welland Land Development Inc.

FEATURES

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Look for the Hope & Truth Reflection Sculpture on the cover of the June 2025 edition of "The Canada Magazine"! Be sure to give it a read, and check out the short paragraph about the piece on page 4. Click through the image to check out the magazine in its entirety!