Welcome to our “5 Questions” series! We chat with park staff around the province to give you an inside look at what it’s like to work at Ontario Parks.
Matt Harvey has worked for Ontario Parks for over 30 years, primarily as an architect. He is now the Architectural Team Leader for Ontario Parks and has designed many different buildings, from staff houses and maintenance buildings to gatehouses and comfort stations.
In the early ’90s, a young Matt was looking for an architecture job. He saw a Ministry of Natural Resources posting for an architectural designer who would get to design buildings for provincial parks. The idea of designing for what are essentially small towns intrigued him, so he applied.
It’s safe to say that Matt got the job – he’s enjoyed working on Ontario Parks designs so much he’s stayed with Ontario Parks ever since!
1. What is your favourite part of your job?
Going to visit parks and getting to see the diversity of parks. I tried to see all the parks, but would’ve liked to have seen more than I did.
As an architect, my favourite part of my job is designing buildings and working on new projects. It’s very gratifying to work through a new design and figure it out with the design review group and other park staff.
It’s what you go into architecture for – to tackle a design problem and come up with something that responds to the needs while also being done in a manner that is economical and delights the user.
2. What DON’T people know about your job?
I think I am the last architect in the Ontario Public Service who actually stamps and signs off on architectural drawings. Positions have changed and moved around so most of the architects are reviewing work done by outside consultants, rather than stamping drawings and producing the designs themselves. I’ve never found another architect in the Ontario Public Service who’s still producing and stamping designs.
I have also been working for the last two years with accommodations for low vision – I am legally blind. This has affected my perspective on accessibility in Ontario Parks, particularly on accessible signage.
3. What has been the most exciting day on the job so far?
Every day is exciting, but one in particular was the opening day of a building my team designed: Arrowhead’s Visitor Centre.
It is a lot of effort on all parties involved to do designs in house and it’s gratifying to see that people seem to love the design of Arrowhead’s Visitor Centre.
4. Which park do you think deserves more love?
Ferris Provincial Park – it’s like a Tuscan landscape out there with rolling farmland. I’m fascinated with the drystone fencing built by farmers.
These walls were built as sheep fences and had stiles – a series of steps built into the fences to allow people but not sheep to walk over the fences. They also have a very clever design that holds the stones together without mortar while also dealing with frost heave. And now the fences are part of the park’s history.
Also all northern parks! There are amazing parks in northern Ontario, like Nagagamisis Provincial Park, which has incredible fishing. If you can make the time to swing up there, they’re fantastic and have stunning scenery.
5. What’s your favourite way to enjoy nature?
Backcountry camping has been something I was lucky enough to do a lot in the past, like taking canoes down Barron Canyon in Algonquin. Now I’m more focused on using yurts and rustic cabins to minimize the gear and setup time.
I also recently camped in a yurt at Charleston Lake Provincial Park and enjoyed it. I got to kayak around in the rain and look at swans and snapping turtles. You can go to a park and it can be raining like heck and still have a good time.
If you don’t camp as often, you forget why you like it, so you need to get back into it so you remember why you do it.
BONUS: What’s your favourite fun fact about Ontario Parks architecture?
Our quintessential parks design was pioneered by the U.S. parks system!
During the Great Depression of the 1930s, America — under President Franklin D. Roosevelt — instituted the Civilian Conservation Corp as part of the New Deal. Young people who were unemployed were given training to build the parks infrastructure that exists today in the United States.
The design of the buildings was done by architects working for the National Park Service. Because Franklin D. Roosevelt had spent his summers as a lad in the Adirondacks, U.S. park style mimicked classic Adirondack cottages with their stone foundations and log walls.
And when parks were established in Canada, they looked to the south and decided to go with the same look.
