Brockville Recorder & Times

Dozens attended an upscale get-together - with wine, snacks, politicians and speeches - in a dedication ceremony to the new and improved Thomas Fuller Building on Court House Avenue on Friday night. The building, formerly the Catholic Cultural Centre and a post office before that, has been under construction for more than a year. It was purchased about three years ago by the Ottawa-based Fuller Group of Companies. The restoration project was spearheaded by Simon Fuller, who a few years ago stumbled upon the building, named after and designed by his great-grandfather Thomas Fuller, and saw a "for sale" sign but also a sticker that said "sold." However, that initial deal fell through, and Fuller got the chance to get the building into his family's hands. Fuller said the total renovation project cost just less than $3 million, about 20 per cent of that coming from Parks Canada in the form of a restoration grant. He said he was happy to give the building a new life, with so many other buildings of historical significance not lasting. "More than 60 per cent of my great-grandfather's buildings have been torn down in the last four decades," he said. Thomas Fuller was the Canadian government's chief architect in the late 1800s. Among his other projects were the Centre Block on Parliament Hill, the Library of Parliament and the Langevin Block.