A 'forgotten gem': Windsor woman hoping to restore Jackson Park bandshell

A Facebook page promoting the restoration of an old Windsor relic has gained traction in the less-than-a-month it's been around.

Close to 1,000 people already like the 'Jackson Park Band Shell - Windsor, Ontario' page on social media, something arts-loverSarah Lestagenever thought would happen.

Lestage had never seen the bandshell before her boyfriend showed it to her.

"When I saw the current state of it I was truly disappointed," said Lestage.

According to the Facebook page, the band shell was rebuilt in 1959 after fire destroyed the previous structure in 1957. Today it sits unused, with its doors welded shut. No one has performed on the band shell stage for years.

"I grew up in Windsor involved in different performance arts," said Lestage, who now works for a law office none of her colleagues knew the band shell existed.

"A lot of Windsorites just do not know of this forgotten gem."

The band shell is listed on the Windsor Municipal Heritage Register but does not have "designated" status which would protect it from disrepair or from being torn down.

"The historic Emancipation Day festivals in Windsor, once dubbed the greatest freedom festival on earth, took place [at the band shell] for many years," said Lestage. "People like Diana Ross, The Supremes, The Temptations, Martin Luther King Jr., First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and so on [performed there]."

Lestage said her next step is to reach out to the city and see if they'll restore the space.

"I'm not quite sure of the cost at this point," said Lestage. "It looks like just a lot of loads to the dump, cleaning up weeds and graffiti, that kind of stuff."

Lestage said she hopes to "get the ball rolling" soon on a plan to save the band shell.

Listen to the full interview from Windsor Morning: