House Where Dionne Quintuplets Were Born Will Stay in North Bay
By IAN AUSTENAPRIL 4, 2017
OTTAWA — A city in northern Ontario abandoned a plan on Tuesday night to ship the birthplace of the Dionne quintuplets,
the miracle babies of the Great Depression, to another community with no direct connection to their story.
The two surviving quintuplets, Annette and Cécile, reluctantly returned to the public spotlight to challenge the original plan of
the city — which hosted about three million tourists, including many celebrities of the era, who came to see the quintuplets.
In its reversal, the City Council of North Bay voted, 7-3, to instead move the tiny log house from its current
site on the Trans-Canada Highway to a relatively new downtown park on the shore of Lake Nipissing.
The Council voted only to cover the cost of moving the home, which became world famous after the
birth of the five Dionne sisters on May 28, 1934, as well as its future exterior maintenance.
"Now we’re going to have to have an operational plan,
but that’s going to be nothing compared to what we’ve been through." Follow Ian Austen on Twitter @ianrausten.
Miles Peters, one of the North Bay residents who challenged the move, said he expected
that higher levels of government would contribute grants for the museum.
