Windfields Farm (Ontario)

After the farm's closure the planned preservation failed to materialize. The property, buildings and graves were left instead to fall into a state of decay and disrepair. Pictures began to appear of the grave sites of world-famous Northern Dancer and other notable Windfields horses with tall weeds surrounding them, as well as the historical structures covered in overgrowth. The property and its many buildings had begun falling prey to vandals, the elements, and time.

Corus studio in former maid's house (2006)

A small group of supporters who were disappointed in the apparent near-abandonment of the property (and what appeared to be a dismal future for its structures) began to advocate for the property in late 2009, with efforts beginning in earnest in 2010. The media was contacted and several stories were published in both local television and print media during 2010, 2011, and 2012, as well as a feature article in the Toronto Star newspaper entitled "Hero Racehorse Rests Amongst The Weeds", addressing the dismal condition and lack of respect for the farm and the famous horses interred there, most notably, Northern Dancer. In addition, presentations were made to the City of Oshawa Council and a letter-writing campaign was also enacted, all of which served to bring the situation to public awareness.

The negative media attention garnered from the fall 2011 Toronto Star article spurred the owners of the "Core" property (Durham College and/or The University Of Ontario Institute of Technology, UOIT) to step up maintenance of the gravesite areas and pledge to better respect the property.

They made no other commitments about the property at that time.

In the fall of 2012, the City Of Oshawa became an ally to the cause for proper respect for the Windfields Farm property and its legacy. At the behest of the city, UOIT agreed to form a "Community Advisory Group" [7] to allow all interested parties to discuss the future of the farm in detail. The situation began to improve as UOIT began to exhibit a willingness to show the Windfields Farm legacy the respect it deserved. Unfortunately there appeared to be minimal followup from the formation of this group.

During 2013, grounds maintenance was stepped up, including routine grass cutting and a general cleanup of overgrowth in the vicinity of the core buildings. Many repairs and changes were effected to the property and its buildings as well during the 2012 to 2014 period, including the following:

• Several buildings received roofing repairs (including an entire re-shingling of Barn 6) intended to halt water damage, which was causing rapid deterioration of several of the historic structures on the property.
• The heating systems in several of the remaining houses in the vicinity of the core were repaired and returned to service.
• Eaves troughs, lightning rods, and other metalwork on various buildings that had been stolen by scrap metal thieves during previous years were replaced.
• Security patrols were increased dramatically.
• Electricity was restored in many areas.
• Lighting was installed.
• Security cameras were installed in strategic locations around the property.
• Various buildings, the arena, and barns, many of which had been left unsecured for many years, were once again secured.
• Pumping systems that had failed, causing subsequent flooding of some areas, were restored to operational condition.

In the late summer of 2014, the public was once again welcomed to the farm during "Doors Open Oshawa", a citywide event that allows the public to visit venues which are normally closed to public access. This was the first time since the auction in 2009 that the public was able to legally access and visit the core property area of Windfields Farm in order to see the facilities, its heritage structures, and to pay their respects at the graves of Northern Dancer and the other horses interred at the main grave site. The event was well attended.

The core of the farm showed a dramatic turnaround from previous years, with the grounds (and grave site area) appearing well kept and the repair efforts (basic and otherwise) on the many core buildings being evident to those who had followed their plight. Although many of the buildings still showed areas of concern, it appears the preservation efforts and repairs made to date had at least halted further deterioration of the buildings. During the Doors Open event, it was shared that the university has begun exploratory meetings and discussions with regards to fundraising to allow further repairs to the buildings, barns, and the arena.

After the "Doors Open" event in 2014 to current day the current owners of the core of the farm (The University of Ontario Institute of Technology) have taken a much less public approach to the property, having hosted no publicly accessible events since that date, although several private events have taken place. Although photos that have appeared online show that the core of the farm remains well tended and additional structure repairs have occurred, as of January 2018 there still appears to be no firm plans to fulfil many of the earlier promises of public access to the grave sites, and the property is clearly posted as "Private Property" with no public access whatsoever.

In 2016 the city of Oshawa followed up on some earlier plans with a "Proposed Program for Honouring the Windfields Farm Legacy" [8] document detailing some studies funded by an earlier controversial[9] donation of $150,000 by Minto Developments. The results, under the banner "Program for Honouring the Windfields Farm Legacy" were adopted [10] on February 22, 2016, but since this date there has been little news with regards to forward progress on many of the goals.