SACKVILLE, N.B. – A local landmark was destroyed by a strong wind storm that blew through the region last week.
A large horse and cattle barn in Upper Sackville that was built at the turn of the 20th century was felled by the winds sometime overnight Monday or early Tuesday morning.
Percy Best, who has a view of the barn from his property across the lake, said he was shocked to see the barn on the ground when he looked out his window Tuesday morning.
“I woke up to find the barn had been flattened by the storm,” said Best.
The barn, located off of Mount View Road and owned by the Fawcett family, was built in 1898 by Best’s great grandfather Isaac Cook. Cook was also instrumental in constructing the house on the same property as well as the Middle Sackville Baptist Church.
Environmental Canada issued a special weather statement for most of the province on Monday night, where westerly winds gusting up to 80 or 90 kilometres an hour were forecast for much of Tuesday. The winds ripped trees from the ground and knocked out power to thousands of NB Power customers throughout the day.
But Best said he was still surprised the barn would have come down, even despite strong gusts. He said he didn’t hear any loud noise throughout the night and the building just seemed like it folded in itself.
“It’s just such a major loss.”
Judy Fawcett, who owns the property, agreed with Best.
“It was a very nice old barn,” she said. “I’m just in shock that it went down. That’s a big barn for a wind to take down.”
The barn was used right up until a couple of months ago for livestock and Fawcett said farmers who used it would always comment on how well built it was.
She said she was on her way to an appointment in Moncton Tuesday morning when she received a call the barn had been destroyed.
“My heart stopped,” she said. “I always loved that barn.”
Fawcett said she’s glad there were no animals in the barn at the time and no one was hurt when it came down. There were several items in storage that were destroyed, including lawn mowers, canoes and some antique farm equipment.
And she’s also pleased her grandson decided to retrieve the barn board from the building a few months ago which shows who was involved in its construction.
“So that’s a piece of history he was able to save.”
