Dear Editor:
How utterly disappointing and infuriating to read of Centre Wellington council’s 5-2 decision defeating a staff and heritage committee recommendation to refuse the owners’ request for demolition of the 1897 farmhouse at 7535 Sixth Line in former Nichol Township.
The problem is many-pronged and not limited to:
– a woeful lack of appreciation by our elected officials of the consistently high importance given by the residents of Centre Wellington to the preservation of heritage buildings and the contextual history of the people who had them built;
– heritage laws with very little teeth. Even designated properties get only a modicum of protection and usually only to specific, listed parts of the structure, and only if a homeowner along the way has had the foresight to seek designation;
– a negative prejudice of old buildings by modern trades with a lack of understanding of the quality of historical techniques and materials – an unfortunate view passed on to reluctant homeowners.
Council members’ pathetic arguments that because the house isn’t readily visible from the road its heritage value is diminished are insulting. We are talking about a rural property! It is exactly this aspect of privacy and rural setting that appealed to the people who built the house and farmed the land. This is precisely why it is valuable and should be preserved. How long can we go on saying that there are many other examples of this type of architecture and that demolishing one more will make no difference?
The only thing for certain is that no more like this will ever be built; not with the contemporaneous tools, materials and aesthetic. If our elected officials, who know the people of Centre Wellington value their built heritage tremendously, cannot do the right thing by our history, please as individual homeowners, do all Canadians a favour. Please do not buy a heritage property if you intend to simply demolish it and build a modern structure. Find a different place to build and instead sell to someone who will gladly take on the dedication, love and finances required to maintain or restore an old home. Better yet, rethink your prejudice towards ‘old houses’ and learn about why, though they come with challenges, they are for the most part, superior.
Catarina Burguete,
Elora