A Typical Day At An Atypical Institution.

Sadleir House – that big, beautiful, Victorian mansion on George Street (now with its own bus stop!) – you may know that it is your downtown student & community facility, funded by a levy from each full-time Trent student and community donations. You may have even stopped by to borrow a book from the library or attend an event being hosted here, but not many people realize the full extent of community activity that place here.  So let’s look at a “typical” day here at Sadleir House.

Mornings are nice and quiet here as groups like OPIRG (room 102), Arthur  Newspaper (room 104), and the Trent Queer Collective (room 208) open their offices. There’s great coffee and teas available in the Senior Common Room (room 201) upstairs for only $1. Our large South Lawn is something of a neighbourhood backyard for dog walkers or folks to sit on the bench and read their newspaper (maybe that’s what you’re doing right now…). There’s a Life Drawing class Tuesday morning that takes advantage of the great light in what was the house’s parlour (room 101) with original plaster moldings on the ceiling and two fireplaces.

Things start to pick up after lunch. People stop in to browse through over 3000 books and 1200 DVDs in the Sadleir House Library, available for loan to all students and community members. The Senior Common Room, with its free wifi and comfy couches, starts to fill up. Unlike downtown cafes, there’s no obligation to buy a coffee while you study and you’re welcome to stay all day. If you’re a keener and already have your readings and assignments finished you can borrow a board game from the Sadleir House office (room 103). If you love music there’s a piano next to the turret for you to play. If you stop by on a Sunday afternoon you’re likely to have the Peterborough Mandolin Society or Kawartha Youth Orchestra rehearsing in the background.

By 7pm on a weeknight Sadleir House is a hive of community activity. Monday yoga classes, Tuesday sustainable living workshops, Wednesday art classes, Thursday bellydance classes, monthly Amnesty International meetings, and much more. A complete calendar of events can be found on our website (www.sadleirhouse.ca), where our mandate of being a meeting place between the Trent and Peterborough communities is clearly illustrated. There you can also find information about to host your own event in this wonderful space.

After dark, most activity takes place in the Dining Hall. This fully wired performance space has hosted many concerts, plays, and dinners. On Thursdays nights Sadleir House co-hosts pub nights with a wide range of student and community groups with entertainment ranging from open mics to noise jams to salsa dance nights.

We hope you’ll visit soon!