The Kingston Whig-Standard
Saturday, January 19, 2002

Hog Farm May Scuttle Village Plan
 

By Cathy McKee
Erinsville/For The Whig-Standard
 

The replica of an Irish Village planned for Erinsville may go to another community.

Efforts to get the project off the ground in the hamlet north of Napanee on Highway 41 have been frustrated by the threat of an intensive hog farm being built next to the site of the proposed tourist attraction.

The Irish Village is the brainchild of Father Brian Hart, pastor of the Church of the Assumption in Erinsville.

Hart says his Irish Village may find a home on Wolfe Island. The pastor has been working, through his Hearthmakers project, to bring windmill electricity generation to the island.

Steven Alls, project development co-ordinator until his contract ran out last July says other locations have been considered.

Alls says the plans for the replica village are complete. They include a large structure for community events and seven small straw-bale cottages. Artists and craftspeople would be able to use the cottages to display their products.

Construction didn't begin as planned, Alls said, pending a decision from Stone Mills Township Council on whether to give the hog farm's proponents a building permit.

"The pig farm is the problem,' Alls said.

"We're kind of seeing what happens."

In the meantime, he and Hart hope to bring the village to fruition.

"I'm hoping to jump back into it," Alls said. "It's a great project. It's worthy and it will go somewhere eventually."

The Irish Village Crafters' Market which took place on the proposed site of the Irish Village in Erinsville in 1999 and 2000, was discontinued because of a lack of volunteers and a lack of money, Alls said. "It's hard to get that many volunteers in a small community."

Started as a pilot project with money from Agriculture Canada for a period of one year, the open-air flea and craft market was successful. However, Alls was unable to find money to continue the event for four or five weekends each summer.