Rehabilitation of the Carbide Willson Ruins Complex

The Carbide Willson ruins complex is one of Gatineau Park’s most important heritage sites. It is a popular year-round destination.

The ruins, access trails and nearby shorelines have deteriorated over time. This project brought much-needed repairs and conservation measures to the complex, protecting its long-term integrity. It now offers an improved and more meaningful visitor experience.

The rehabilitation work is now complete. The ruins and adjacent trails are open to the public. 

This rehabilitation project aimed to protect the complex’s long-term integrity in the context of a conservation park. It also highlights the site’s heritage value, while enhancing the visitor experience.

Specifically, this project: 

• redefined access to places of interest and add a new lookout;
• repaired and stabilized the eroded trails to make them safer and more durable;
• rehabilitated the ruins while protecting their heritage components;
• added interpretation elements, with three interpretation nodes and visitor access, as shown in the map below.