1. Heritage Toronto announces Special Achievement Award Recipient - Stephen Otto
Heritage Toronto

Heritage Toronto is pleased to announce the 2009 Heritage Toronto Special Achievement Award Recipient. The award will be presented to heritage advocate Stephen Otto on October 13th.

Stephen Otto is one of the city's most determined advocates for the preservation and promotion of Toronto's built and documentary heritage. As the founding head of heritage conservation programs in the Ministry of Culture & Recreation from 1975-81, he administered the newly-enacted Ontario Heritage Act and led the development of programs to support architectural conservation, archaeology, museums, historical plaques and publications.

As a founder of the Friends of Fort York, Mr. Otto was motivated by his awareness of Fort York National Historic Site's place at the centre of the history and geography of Toronto, and the urgent need for its recognition within Toronto's Official Plan. As a result, the Fort York National Historic Site (Fort York, Garrison Common and Victoria Memorial Square) has a prominent and vital role to play in the future of the city.

As with his work on Fort York, many of Mr. Otto's other contributions have focused on the public realm - the squares, parks, streets, bridges, cemeteries, markets and public buildings that define people's experiences in Toronto. Many of these places have become character defining to Toronto today - the Don Jail, the Don Valley Brickworks, The Distillery District National Historic Site, Todmorden Mills and St. Lawrence Hall and Market, to name a few.

Mr. Otto is a former director of the Ontario Heritage Foundation and Canadian Association of Professional Heritage Consultants, a member of the Toronto Historical Board, serves the Bata Shoe Museum advisory council, Grange Committee of the Art Gallery of Ontario, and the Massey College Architectural Advisory Board. He was founding chair of the Friends of Fort York & Garrison Common, an office he held again more recently until ill health forced him to retire. At present, Mr. Otto sits on the Corporation of Trinity College.

He was presented with the Queen's Silver Jubilee Medal in 1977, the Toronto Historical Board's Award of Merit in 1988 and 1996, and the Arbor Award for voluntary service by the University of Toronto in 1991. His revised edition of Toronto, No Mean City, Eric Arthur's classic work on the city's 19th-century buildings, appeared in 1986.

"I'm delighted that we are honouring Stephen with the Heritage Toronto Special Achievement Award this year. With his dedication and quiet passion for Toronto's heritage, he has contributed immensely to the culture and self-understanding of our city, and we are all richer for his work," said Peggy Mooney, Executive Toronto of Heritage Toronto.

The Special Achievement Award will be presented at the 35th Annual Heritage Toronto Awards on Tuesday, October 13 at the historic Carlu, in conjunction with the William Kilbourn Memorial Lecture, The Great Toronto Roast.

The Awards celebrate outstanding contributions  by professionals and volunteers in the promotion and conservation of Toronto's history and heritage landmarks. In a bit of a departure from our usual format, Heritage Toronto is also hosting The Great Toronto Roast, our birthday party for our City's 175th year. Special guests of roasters and toasters will celebrate both our triumphs and our foibles in a lively one-hour program.

Other award nominations will be announced and tickets will go on sale in late August. Please visit www.heritagetoronto.org for more information on the Awards, including a full biography of Stephen Otto.

Editor's Note:
What a perfect choice. This official announcement barely scratches the surface of Stephen Otto's quiet, steady, generous contributions. He is Toronto's memory, he is constantly fielding requests for information, and is very generous with his time in responding. It is not much of an overstatement to say that Steve Otto knows everything! He has been key in creating a culture of sharing among heritage experts. He is always ready with very sage advice on when and how to raise an issue. He is extraordinarily gifted with a combination of tenacity, insight, diplomacy and old fashioned good manners which always win the day, and at the same time preserving the dignity of everyone on all sides. It is a gift which I continue to watch with wonder. I can't wait to attend and cheer this choice.

2. Sense of Place - Defense of Place: A Case Study of the Toronto Island
Sally Gibson

I've finally scanned my 1981 thesis, Sense of Place - Defense of Place: A Case Study of the Toronto Island and put it on my website at www.sallygibson.ca/pages/thesis-sally-gibson.html.

The thesis was a pioneering investigation of the concept of sense of place, and also an in-depth analysis of the Toronto Island community and its political struggle to stay alive. Please take a look and let me know what you think through my contact page. The work has been buried in the library for a long time!

3. U of W students succeed at Reurbia
Rick Haldenby

Reburbia is an international design competition dedicated to re-envisioning the suburbs, sponsored by Dwell Magazine and Inhabitat.com. (http://www.re-burbia.com/about/)

The twenty finalists were announced on August 10 (http://www.re-burbia.com/finalists/ ), two of whom are recent UW M.Arch grads, Craig England and Calvin Chiu, who submitted work done as part of their architectural theses. Interestingly, both have to do with water.

The ultimate winner will be determined in part by public voting. The poll is open until August 17

4. Job Posting: Chief Curator of the City of Toronto
Sandra Shaul

Candidates are being sought for the position of Chief Curator of the City of Toronto. The submission date is very tight: September 28. To see the job posting and to apply, go to http://wx.toronto.ca/inter/hr/jobs.nsf/current+opportunities and click on Chief Curator).

The Chief Curator ensures that all aspects of the exhibits, programs, and services of the City of Toronto Museums & Heritage Services are authentic and historically accurate, providing leadership and management of the Collections and Conservation unit as well as to Gibson House, Zion School, Montgomery's Inn and Scarborough Historical Museum and for maintaining the City's credibility with the public and with other museums, the academic sector, and related institutions, both in fulfilment of the Cultural Services mandate for its museums and to ensure that the City's museums are competitive against those of other centres in the cultural tourism market.

5. Inaugural Experiences e-Newsletter from Parks Canada

Experiences  goes digital! Updated monthly and available on our website at anytime, our e-newsletter showcases the activities and accomplishments of the Parks Canada Agency from coast to coast to coast in our national parks, historic sites and marine conservation areas.   

Inaugural Edition (www.pc.gc.ca/eng/agen/bulletin/2009-08.aspx)


Creating an e-newsletter is the first step in a series of innovations concerning our communications with stakeholders, partners, and any other organizations or individuals who self-identify as having an interest in the decisions and actions of the Parks Canada Agency. Our next proposed development is the establishment of a section on our website dedicated to your interests.  Please take a moment to send us your comments and suggestions about the proposed initiative and the content and/or features you would like to see included.  Thank you in advance for your input.  

If you would like to be added to the distribution list, please email experiences.editor@pc.gc.ca with your contact information.

6. Heritage Conservation Network Becomes Adventures in Preservation
Judith Broeker

I am pleased to announce that Heritage Conservation Network is changing its name to Adventures in Preservation, effective September 1, 2009.  As AiP, we will continue to offer the same high-quality, meaningful volunteer vacations we have offered since 2002, giving you the opportunity to work on historic buildings around the world. Our new name is intended to highlight the participant experience, which is, after all, the key to the success of our projects.
 
My email address has been changed to jbroeker@adventuresinpreservation.org; please make this change in your address book in order to ensure that you will continue to receive emails.
 
You can find us online at www.adventuresinpreservation.org. Look for the launch of our new website on November 1, but don’t wait until then to check out our 2010 workshop offerings. Registration is open for our workshops in Kenya, the U.S., Armenia, Slovenia and Albania, all places where you can join other volunteers and help restore a building and renew a community.
 

Editor's Note:
This agency offers interesting opportunities to get first hand, hands on experience in saving buildings in interesting places.

7. Call for Nominations: 2009 ACO Annual Awards
Gill Haley: Awards Committee Chair

Nominations for the 2009 Architectural Conservancy of Ontario Annual Awards are due!

Awards will be presented at the annual ACO Gala Dinner on November 6, 2009. As the principal non-government volunteer organization for heritage conservation in Ontario, the Awards Program of the ACO is designed to honour preservation leaders and/or projects that are considered valuable on a provincial scale to the architectural conservation movement in Ontario.

Awards include, the AK Sculthorpe Award for Activism, Peter Stokes Award for Heritage Restoration, The Eric Arthur Award for Lifetime Achievment, Margaret and Nicholas Hill Award for Conservation of Cultural Landscapes, and

For more information and nomination forms, visit the ACO website at www.arconserv.ca.

8. How I Spent my Summer - Up to my Elbows in Canadian History
Catherine Nasmith

Champlain Map of Eastern North America, 1632

I apologize for this rather late re-entry of BHN. I have taken a rather long, much needed break from various duties.

In the spring I completed my three year term as ACO President. As well the construction of the Alton Mill was finished. I took advantage of the co-incidence to spend the summer supervising the rehabilitation of a small cottage on our Windermere property. I worked long hours after the crew left, clearing up, doing wiring and other jobs that I could do. I now understand very well Muskoka balloon frame construction. It was terrific to be doing something positive with my hands, to sleep soundly and to swim and ride my bike as much as I wanted.

I am back refreshed for sure.

When it was too late to work I found time to read two Canadian histories. In both I found some of the foundations of our distinct Canadian culture.

The first book was Karolyn Smard-Frost's remarkable story of the escape from slavery of Thorton and Lucie Blackburn, I've Got a Home in Glory Land. I found myself very proud of the manner in which the British government of the time had defied U.S. attempts to bring the Blackburns, and subsequently other slaves back across the border, purportedly for trial, but inevitably to be returned to slavery. Canada still hesitates to return refugees when the penalty for their crimes in the native country exceeds the penalty in Canada. I was also unaware that Thorton Blackburn had been the subject of riots in Detroit.

The second book, which may not be as well known to BHN readers, was Champlain's Dream, written by David Hackett Fischer, an American history professor with a lifelong interest in Champlain. His curiosity about Champlain arose because his family retreat was on Mount Desert Island, off the coast of Maine, where Champlain had established an early settlement.  

I have to confess to not knowing much about Champlain beyond Grade 5 history. For example I did not know of his travels in New England, Florida or Spain's colonies.

Hackett Fischer's thesis is that Champlain was a visionary, who dreamed about settlement of North America being one of peaceful co-existence between nations. He proposes that Champlain's attitude developed from growing up in a town of coastal France torn by religious conflicts, and his later horror at the treatment of natives by the Spanish colonists in the Caribean and Central and South America. The book is a page turner, all 800 pages!

There are accounts of his remarkable peacemaking with and among the many native nations, his advocacy in the French court for Quebec as a french settlement - Catholic yet tolerant of other religions, as well as his extensive travels by canoe as far north as Nipissing and south to Lake Champlain. He was tenacious in his pursuit of his dream. I did not understand before reading this book just how much we owe Champlain for Canada's traditions of tolerance, compromise and flexible legal traditions. 

If you have read a book, or books that you think other BHN readers would enjoy, just drop a line.

9. Toronto Star: Hockey and Groceries at Maple Leaf Gardens
Dana Flavelle

Loblaws in talks with Ryerson over Maple Leaf Gardens

The sound of skates scraping across centre ice may be heard again at Maple Leaf Gardens.

Canada's largest supermarket chain confirmed today it is in talks with Ryerson University concerning the future development of the former National Hockey League shrine.

Loblaw Cos. Ltd., which bought the historic building in 2004, has said it plans to open a flagship supermarket in the former hockey shrine, a move that drew protests from some hockey fans.

Partnering with Ryerson, which has for some time been in search of an arena for its hockey team, could dampen the outcry.

"Loblaw Cos. Ltd. is in discussions with Ryerson University regarding the possible future joint use of Maple Leaf Gardens. The discussions are still in progress and we do not have any information to share at this time. Updates regarding our discussions will be provided as appropriate," Inge van den Berg, Loblaw senior vice-president corporate affairs, confirmed in an email today.

Click here for Link

10. Toronto Star: RCMI reborn
John Spears

'Car-free' condo: 42 storeys, no parking

RCMI, Toronto Star Photo

A controversial 42-storey condo building that will be built without permanent parking spots cleared a key hurdle yesterday.

The Toronto-East York community council overruled city staff skeptical about the dearth of parking to allow a plan that provides for only nine car-share rental spots, plus 315 spaces for bicycles.

The condominium would go up on the site of the century-old Royal Canadian Military Institute on University Ave. near Dundas St., which would be demolished, with elements of its facade preserved at the base and a thin tower above.

"If you look at the evidence of what sells downtown, the majority of units under 750 square feet in the downtown core sell without parking,' said Stephen Deveaux, a vice-president with the developer, Tribute Communities. Parking spots typically add $20,000 or more to the cost of a downtown condo.

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11. Toronto Star: Saving Carleton Village Public School
Carol Goar, forwarded by Elizabeth Quance

How to save a community landmark

This could have been a story about a working class neighbourhood losing a cherished landmark. The demolition order was ready.

It could have been a story about a small community group being brushed aside by municipal decision makers. That is where the plotline was heading.

But someone was smart enough to change the trajectory.

Claude Bergeron, president of the Carleton Village Residents' Association, isn't sure who the hero was – not him, he says modestly.

It might have been a far-sighted architectural team. It might have been an enlightened planner. It might even have been Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair.

What Bergeron can say definitively is that everyone is happy with the outcome: the community, the architects, the police and city hall.

He likes to tell the story. And it's worth hearing because it is a rare example of a clash of visions being resolved to the benefit of all parties.

Last year, city council voted to demolish Carleton Village Public School in the heart of Davenport West neighbourhood. It had 435 students. One wing was already closed.

Editor's Note:
Good news!

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12. Globe and Mail: Culture and heritage find a lifesaver - City, Centennial College partner to preserve, redevelop Guild Inn
JOHN LORINC

Heritage architect Phillip Goldsmith, who played a role in the Wychwood Barns project, is overseeing the renovation

After spending years as a hospitality executive for hotels in Canada and Israel, Shyam Ranganathan often wondered what his profession could do to protect the threatened cultural heritage that draws millions of tourists to the world's great destinations.

Click here for Link

13. Globe and Mail: Canada Malting to be Demolished
Brodie Fenlon, forwarded by Robert Allsopp

Toronto scraps museum project, plans to raze site instead

Canada Malting Complex

The City of Toronto has abandoned plans to build a $100-million history museum at the foot of Bathurst Street.

The Toronto Museum Project was to spearhead the restoration of the old Canada Malting complex and its crumbling silos, with a potential waterfront condo and hotel development on the 1.4-hectare site at Eireann Quay.

There had been wide support on council for the plan, public consultations and endorsements by a board of "champions," including Sarmite Bulte and David Crombie.

But officials, citing the recession, are now looking seriously at Old City Hall as a future venue for the Toronto history museum, while the city's chief corporate office has recommended the entire Canada Malting site be razed but for a small "symbolic outline" at a cost of $8.4-million.

That's despite opposition from the city's own heritage preservation services and the Toronto preservation board, which want the silos restored at a cost of $17.7-million. The mayor's executive committee will vote on the two competing visions next week.

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14. CANADIAN ARCHITECT: Insertion Points - A small architecture firm is well-known for nimbly grafting and inserting new architectural elements into the existing urban fabric of Vancouver, Gair Williamson Architects
Trevor Boddy

. . . Williamson is responsible for one of the best applications of these Vancouver heritage mechanisms in his adaptive reuse and rooftop addition for Salient to the Bowman Block, part of a line of early 20th-century warehouses on Beatty Street south of West Georgia Street. Williamson's design cut back the window-side floor plates of timber-beamed and wooden mill floors to open up two-storey lofts, with bedrooms set back to increase the sense of space, while revealing original elements of the 1906 structure--for example, the former beam seats are retained as a marker of the building's past.

Similarly, designer and developer resisted invisibly bricking-over the line where the subtracted floor plate was excised, intending it to be left visible. In some of these loft condos, the location of the former floor plate is marked with a very contemporary steel I-beam, which also helps with seismic stiffening of the masonry shell building.

The most compelling instance of what Williamson calls his firm's "hybrid mentality" is a two-storey all-new addition placed on the Bowman roof, now home to the building's four most spectacular condos. Set back from the street and dominated by the caryatids of the Sun Tower next door, these fine additions to Vancouver's downtown roofscape are almost invisible from surrounding streets. This is too bad, because these are unusually handsome and well-proportioned apartments, welcome amidst blocks of cookie-cutter tower-podium banalities rendered in cheap bare concrete elsewhere downtown. Williamson credits former senior downtown planner Larry Beasley for pushing to extend heritage bonusing to this Beatty Street location, and for his support of a contemporary architectural palette of zinc plate and glass over the wishes of his own junior planners, who wanted the Bowman addition clad in something "brickier" and more "contextual."

Click here for Link

15. Chatham Daily News: Changes to our municipal heritage register are coming soon
Jim and Lisa Gilbert, local historians

By now, most people are familiar with the idea of designating a building as an important representative of our cultural heritage. Since the 1970s here in Ontario, communities have had the ability to protect certain buildings deemed to be too important, for their historical, architectural or contextual value, to ever see demolished.

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16. Georgetown Independent & Free Press: Globe to renovate Armoury
Cynthia Gamble

Late last year, the Town delayed plans to demolish the building after Globe stepped forward with ideas to take over operation of the 142-year-old building.

Georgetown Armoury

Halton Hills council members expressed enthusiasm over Globe Musical Productions plan to renovate the old Georgetown Armoury in the Fairgrounds, and approved a transfer of ownership of the building to the community group at Monday’s council meeting.

Click here for Link

17. Georgina Advocate: Robert West house - Thornhill woman donates 160-year-old Yonge St. homestead
David Fleischer

A generous, one-of-a-kind donation has given Thornhill's heritage a shot in the arm.

Click here for Link

18. Hamilton Spectator: Bringing back the Tivoli - $15m restoration campaign
Nicole Macintyre

John Rennison, the Hamilton Spectator - Tivoli Theatre, Belma Gurdil-Diamante, CEO, Canadian Ballet Youth Ensemble

Standing on the stage of the Tivoli Theatre, Belma Gurdil-Diamante closes her eyes to imagine the room filled with visitors from the past.

Editor's Note:
There is a video which accompanies this article. see, http://www.hamiltonspectator.com/video2/Tivoli/

Click here for Link

19. Historicist: Campbell House on the Move
Jamie Bradburn

Almost there! University Avenue south of Queen Street, March 31, 1972. Photo by F. Ellis Wiley. City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 124, File 2, Item 148.

Anyone crossing Adelaide Street between Jarvis and University on the morning of March 31, 1972, would have noticed a slow procession moving in the opposite direction of the street’s normal traffic flow. A crowd had gathered to follow the move of Campbell House, a century-and-a-half-old building that was spared a date with a wrecking ball that other historic buildings in Toronto had experienced during the preceding decade. The relocation was due, as Joni Mitchell might have said, to one company’s desire to pave paradise and put up a parking lot.

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20. insidetoronto.com: Annette Street Library turns over a new page - Celebration includes tours with local history buffs
LISA RAINFORD

Annette Street Library turns over a new page. The Annette Library, here in 1910, celebrates its 100th anniversary with a day-long party at the branch, Saturday, Sept. 12. Courtesy photo

The Annette Street Library is re-opening after a month in preparation for its centennial anniversary celebration this Saturday, Sept. 12.

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21. Kingston Whig-Standard: City designates 500-plus properties as heritage sites - SYDENHAM DISTRICT
JORDAN PRESS

Unlike other heritage districts, the push for the designation has come from residents in the area, not city hall.

Homes and properties in the old part of Sydenham district are one step closer to being saved from large-scale changes that threaten their heritage values.

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22. Kitchener Waterloo Record: Barra Castle proposal will restore original building, demolish additions
Terry Pender

Barra Castle on Queen Street

KITCHENER - The original part of a landmark building on Queen Street South will likely be saved now that a local planner has secured approval for demolishing the crumbling additions on the back.

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23. National Post: Harry's still wild about building - Developer tackles a project down the QEW with his name already on it
Peter Kuitenbrouwer

Glenn Lowson for National Post. Former Toronto property developer Harry Stinson talks about his current condominium project, the Stinson School Lofts, in Hamilton.

Harry Stinson has taken over the teachers' lounge at the Stinson School and hung up renderings of his projects that succeeded or failed: One King West (succeeded, but he lost control) Sapphire Tower on Toronto's Temperance Street (failed), High Park Lofts (succeeded) Hamilton Grand Hotel (failed).

But the development to which Mr. Stinson, 56, compares his latest venture is the one not on the wall: the Candy Factory Lofts, a four-storey factory conversion in the 1990s that arguably launched Toronto's West Queen West as a destination. Today Mr. Stinson, a developer with 50-, 80-and 100-storey ambitions, has come back to earth.

"Perhaps the 100-storey tower was a little flamboyant, but here, people say, 'If you get it together, I'll take one,' ' says Mr. Stinson of his latest project.

Mr. Stinson moved from Toronto to Hamilton in January 2008, after the creditors pushed him out of his job running One King West, a condo hotel anchored in a restored bank. He still owes creditors $17-million to $18-million, which he is working to repay, he says, and is fighting his former partner David Mirvish, the impressario, who is suing Mr. Stinson.

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24. NiagaraFallsReview.ca: New hope for historic Toronto Power Generating Station - designated a national historic site
Corey Larocque

Home to Ontario's first private hydroelectricity company to be re-used, owners say

Electrical Development Co (aka Toronto Power Generating Station) . pbase.com photo by Robert Jones

 The Toronto Power Generating Station provided Ontario’s biggest city its electricity a century ago, but it doesn’t even have its own electricity connection anymore. A gas-powered generator was needed Friday to power the sound system at an announcement about the future of the palatial building upriver from the Horseshoe Falls.

The federal and provincial governments are each contributing $425,000 each toward structural work needed to bring the 103-year-old building back to life.

"This building is in dire need of an injection right now," said Archie Katzman, vice-chairman of the Niagara Parks Commission which took ownership of the decommissioned generator in 2007.

Government funding is a "start" in refurbishing the historic limestone building that was home to Ontario’s first privately owned electric company.

Niagara Falls MP Rob Nicholson was joined by John Jennings, a member of the Historic Sites and Monuments Board, who designated the former power plant a national historic site.

"What a wonderful idea… How appropriate. It’s a beautiful building in and of itself. It also represents Niagara, doesn’t it?" Nicholson said.

Preparing the hydro station for some future use will create jobs now, but will enhance tourism and promote history down the road, he said.

"This is a good idea on a number of levels," Nicholson said.

The money will be used to remove paint, clean windows and interior steel, install electricity and cap a pit in the old generator.

It’s the kind of work needed before the Niagara Parks Commission considers what the building’s future holds.

It will be a "daunting task" for the parks commission to bring the decommissioned power plant back to a condition it can be used for anything, Katzman said.

The Toronto Power station is one of three unused generators the parks commission has taken over since 2007. It also acquired the Canadian Niagara Power station across the street from Table Rock House and the old Ontario Power station at the base of the Horseshoe Falls.

Editor's Note:
The E.J. Lennox designed building and generating hall are now devoid of any electrical generation equipment. In 2006 Ontario Power Generation (OPG) awarded a $17.5 million contract to Peter Kiewit Sons Co., a Kiewit Corporation subsidiary, for the decommissioning of both the Toronto and Ontario power-generating stations in Niagara Falls, Ontario. Both buildings were handed back to the Parks Commission following completion of the contract. Work at the TPGS included electrical and mechanical removals of all equipment down to the thrust deck floor. see, http://www.kiewit.com/projects/power/toronto-ontario-generating-station.aspx For more back-ground on the station and some discussion of the demolition process (during and after) see http://www.ntropy.us/2009/01/24/toronto-power-company/ For the National Historic Site press release see http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/Parks-Canada-1037099.html

Click here for Link

25. Northumberland News (Cobourg):New Train Station for Cobourg
Jason Chamberlain

COBOURG -- The Town of Cobourg will soon have a new train station, thanks to the Government of Canada and VIA Rail.

Mayor Peter Delanty and Northumberland Quinte-West MP Rick Norlock joined VIA Rail Canada’s Chief Operating Officer John Marginson at the Cobourg train station on Thursday, Sept. 10, for the announcement. The federal government will provide $1 million for the project while VIA will supply the remaining $7 million. Designs are yet to be finalized, but what is certain is that the project will include a new train station to replace the current Grand Trunk building. The latter, a heritage building, will remain standing and VIA is in discussions with the town on how best to make use of it. The project will also include the creation of an official third rail line in and around Cobourg to hasten traffic and lessen congestion.

Editor's Note:
As Rob Hamilton points out, what is wrong with including the existing Grand Trunk station in the new complex

Click here for Link

26. NorthumberlandToday.com: Cobourg council chamber relocates to Old Bailey
CECILIA NASMITH

Until last year, the Old Bailey Courtroom on Victoria Hall's ground floor had hosted court sessions for more than a century. Starting Monday, it will be used for Cobourg council meetings.

Click here for Link

27. Orillia Packet & Times: City nets $1.2M from feds - Regan House
Colin Mckim

Squared timber from the dismantled Regan House, lies unprotected in a public works yard. Three years after the historic log home was dismantled, there is still no plan for its reassembly. Photo Colin Mckim

The rough-hewn logs from Orillia's oldest home have sitting in a pile by the city's Harvie Settlement Road water tower since the historic building was dismantled four years ago.

Now, thanks to a $122,200 grant from the federal government, the storey-and-a-half Regan House, originally built on the Westmount hill in the 1830s, will be reconstructed in Scout Valley.

"It's great news for the heritage community and also for the broader community and visitors to the area," said Craig Metcalf, the city's director of heritage and culture.

The 800-square-foot pioneer home made of squared timber -- some beams 24-inches thick -- was the oldest surviving structure in Orillia.

For more than 170 years it stood on the property at the corner of Westmount Drive North and Woodside Drive now occupied by the new Shoppers Drugmart.

Editor's Note:
Picture used by BHN comes from a story run 5 months ago. For a fuller storey about this heritage asset see, http://www.orilliapacket.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1528031

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28. Ottawa Citizen: Preserve convent's heritage, city urged
Jennifer Campbell

Special designation would put limits on development of Richmond Road property

Les Soeurs De La Visitation D'Ottawa has declared this property surplus to their needs and is offering for sale this simply extraordinary development opportunity within the city limits of Ottawa

Rarely has there been so much action at the cloistered convent on Richmond Road.

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29. Owen Sound Sun Times - City expects Ottawa to maintain CP station
DENIS LANGLOIS

Owen Sound has sent notice to Ottawa that it expects the federal government to maintain its derelict Canadian Pacific Railway station

Owen Sound has sent notice to Ottawa that it expects the federal government to maintain its derelict Canadian Pacific Railway station and property, as it finalizes its sale with the city.

City manager Jim Harrold said the sale has stalled on the feds' end, as Ottawa works to complete its requirements for the transaction. Initially, the city expected the deal to close in March, but Harrold said he now anticipates it to close in September.

Meanwhile, the building and its property continue to sit as an eyesore on the harbour's east side.

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30. Peterborough Examiner: More than 1,700 properties on possible heritage list
BRENDAN WEDLEY

A list of properties of cultural heritage value or interest has been put on hold for at least another six weeks while the city looks at how to notify the 1,763 property owners who could be affected by the registry.

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31. Tapestry: Ship Canal in King
Robert Hulley

The Long forgotten Proposal to Build a Ship Canal through King Township

Standing on the crest of the Oak Ridges Moraine, it’s hard to imagine that a ship canal was planned to run through this area. But there it was, on Geo. Tremaine’s 1860 map of Peel County. It showed the path of the Projected Toronto and Georgian Bay Ship Canal winding its way from Humber Bay through the King Township highlands to the marsh lands at the Holland River. I wondered how they planned on doing it. Was it ever started, and does any of it remain?

Rowland Burr, a prosperous local businessman and mill owner, was the initial promoter of the Ship Canal and in 1857 plans were announced to provide a shorter and better shipping route between Lake Ontario and Lake Huron. It was suggested that the proposed canal would reduce the distance between the upper Great Lakes and the tidewaters at Quebec City or New York
by 400 miles. The Canal was an ambitious project that would have literally changed the face of King Township. It was to be financed by British and American bankers to the tune of approximately one to two billion dollars, in today’s currency. By any measure, it was a huge
undertaking.

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32. The Oshawa Express: Historic estate gets major boost
Lindsey Cole

Amidst the busy traffic on Simcoe Street North in Oshawa stands a national treasure.

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33. Windsor Star: Historic Assumption Church to be restored
Sonja Puzic

The exterior of the Assumption Church in Windsor. Photograph by: Dan Janisse, The Windsor Star

Fears about the possible closure of Windsor's historic Assumption Church dissolved over the weekend when the Roman Catholic diocese of London quietly announced its commitment to restoring and maintaining the church.

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34. ArchDaily: Fictional Architects in the Movies

Have  you seen all these movies, perhaps time to take them all out at once!

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35. Charlottetown Guardian: Ottawa helps fund renovations at historic St. Dunstan's Basilica
WAYNE THIBODEAU

Interior, St. Dunstan's Basilica, Charlottetown. flickr

Nearly $1.6 million in renovations are about to get underway at the historic St. Dunstan’s Basilica in Charlottetown.

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36. Grande Prairie Daily Herald Tribune: Maintaining historic character key in reconstruction of art gallery
JEANNE GAGNON

On March 19, 2007, a portion of The Prairie Art Gallery's roof collapsed under the weight of snow. The gallery has now relocated to a new facility. Photos: The Prairie Art Gallery

Maintaining the historic character of the Prairie Art Gallery, while providing structural strength, will be the focus of reconstruction of the vintage 1929 building west of the Montrose Cultural Centre.

Editor's Note:
Grande Prairie had previously decided not to tear down its Prairie Art Gallery, which was heavily damaged when the roof collapsed in March 2007. see, http://www.cbc.ca/arts/artdesign/story/2008/12/16/grande-prairie.html

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37. Lethbridge Herald: Railways connect us to the past
Pamela Roth

To save it from demolition, in 1999 the Canadian Pacific Railway donated the station to the society, which had the 92-ton building trucked to the new site and set on a modern foundation.

Coutts/Sweetgrass International Train Station Customs Depot at the Galt Historic Railway Park.

Bill Hillen can’t help but get a twinkle in his eye when he steps back in time to talk about the history of the Coutts/Sweetgrass International Train Station Customs Depot at the Galt Historic Railway Park.

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38. Moncton Times & Transcript: N.B.'s covered bridges vanish
Nick Moore

More than 4,000 bridges have dwindled to only 63

FREDERICTON - Perhaps there's no structure in New Brunswick that people identify the province with as much as the rural wooden covered bridge.

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39. New York Times: Douglas Coupland Saves a house
Steven Kuretz

Saving the House Next Door

Photo: New York Times

THE midcentury house that was recently renovated by the writer Douglas Coupland in Vancouver, British Columbia, could technically be called a second home, though it doesn’t really provide much of a scenery change. The commute from his main residence takes all of 25 seconds.

Mr. Coupland applies white Lego building blocks to a post in his upstairs gallery, where his "Target Stack" installation hangs on a wall.

The two-story house, which he bought for about $1.32 million in March 2008, adjoins his property. When it came on the market, Mr. Coupland saw a chance to preserve an architecture style he says is disappearing and being replaced with what he calls “Carmelo Soprano meets Arts and Crafts,” referring to the slew of McMansions that have gone up.

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40. Prince George Citizen: Barkerville building named national historical site
Bernice Trick

The Chee Kung Tong building in Barkerville

The oldest known ethnic Chinese building in the nation, located at Barkerville, will be designated as a national historic site of Canada.

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41. Saint John Telegraph Journal: They've gone too far'
APRIL ROBINSON

Photo by Noel Chenier. A group of residents concerned about the loss of the jelly bean buildings on Wellington Row wear black at a gathering on Sunday.

 Hazel Braithwaite feels as though hours of public consultations have gone to waste.

After she found out the city’s latest move to make way for Peel Plaza developments, her frustrations have come to a boil."We had a lot of intense meetings a year and a half ago," said Braithwaite, an active citizen who lives on King Street.

"We thought the city had heard it loud and clear that we would compromise on the police station, but we also had some priorities we wanted respected.

"They ignored every single one of those priorities."

Braithwaite was talking about rounds of public consultations with each meeting attended by up to 100 people in early 2008.

Citizens made it clear they wanted to protect historic buildings and the Wellington Row streetscape.

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42. Victoria Times Colonist: Governments fund Craigflower repairs
Jeff Bell

Funding has been approved to repair the burned 1853 Craigflower Manor - Photograph by Benjamin Madison, victoriadailyphoto.blogspot.com

Craigflower Manor House, badly damaged in a fire last January, has been given the injection of government funds it needs for a full restoration.

Editor's Note:
An excellent back ground on the house can be read at, "Craigflower - The British Empire Connection" (Based on a talk at a ceremony marking the 150th anniversary of the completion of the Craigflower house, May 6, 2006) by Maureen Duffus. see, http://www.maureenduffus.com/history/british-empire.html

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43. Winnipeg Free Press: Heritage razed for art?
By: William Neville, a Winnipeg writer, was the 2006 recipient of the Leger Medal for lifetime service to Canada in the field of heritage conservation.

We are about to see a case, however, which might suggest that self-regulation is not always good enough. There is, at the Fort Garry campus of the University of Manitoba, a small building of some significance now facing imminent demolition. The so-called

One quite positive development in Canada over the last 40 years has been our growing awareness of our significant built heritage. This has been reflected in our greater willingness to consider, pursue and confer heritage designations on sites and buildings right across the country.

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44. Winnipeg Free Press: Show over for Metropolitan? Renovation work hasn't even started
Bartley Kives

Canad Inns hasn't renovated the Metropolitan Theatre (seen in 2004) and CentreVenture is stumped as to what happens now. (WAYNE GLOWACKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS ARCHIVES)

WINNIPEG - Four months after Mayor Sam Katz pulled the plug on water park cash for Canad Inns, a city agency is wondering whether it's time to close the curtains on another deal with the Winnipeg hotel chain.

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45. Buffalo News: Last Frank Lloyd Wright hotel to be restored
AMY LORENTZEN

Park Inn Hotel, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, is shown in Mason City, Iowa. AP Photo

Frank Lloyd Wright enthusiasts are claiming victory in their effort to restore the architect's last standing hotel, a northern Iowa landmark that has fallen apart over the past few decades.

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46. Buffalo News: On New York State Tax Credits
Clinton Brown

Tax credits will offer new life for old places

A watershed moment portends new life for old buildings and for upstate New York because we worked together to make it happen.

The civic leaders and elected officials from across New York who witnessed Gov. David A. Paterson sign the Hoyt Valesky Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credit bill celebrated more than a new lease on life for our treasure trove of historic buildings.

The upstate leaders who created this significant legislation also represented unprecedented teamwork in creating new life for upstate itself.

The bill provides a state income tax credit to the owner of a certified historic house or commercial building for a portion of the costs of a substantial certified historic rehabilitation.

If we take advantage of this opportunity, the results will be dramatic. We will see increased jobs for construction workers of all skill levels, from the hometown handyman to the high-rise steel walker.

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47. Peterborough Examiner: Peterborough's "Royal" Schools

'Royal' school just one of local architect's landmarks

The week after Labour Day is traditionally the beginning of school for many children. In Peterborough there are a few schools that have seen students come through their doors for about a century. Built between 1906 and 1913 to replace small 19th century school houses, these are large civic structures known as the "Royal Schools": King Edward Public School (recently demolished), Queen Mary Public School, and King George Public School.

All three were designed by prominent local architect William Blackwell, who had been in practice since the 1880s. Blackwell and King George Public School will be the focus of today's column, partly because King George was one of the last major projects that he worked on and partly because it represents one of the finer expressions of City Beautiful architecture that was popular in the years before the First World War.

It is worth looking at Blackwell in a little more detail. His architectural prominence is noteworthy because he designed many Peterborough buildings that are still standing, because he helped popularize the Romanesque Revival style of architecture in Ontario, and because the development of his architectural firm has direct ties to today's internationally recognized Zeidler Partnership Architects.

Born in Lakefield in 1850, Blackwell studied in Toronto, then worked in Winnipeg and New York City during the 1870s before returning to

Peterborough in 1880. He set up a practice that he operated himself until 1919, and then ran jointly with his son Walter until he retired in 1930. Walter would continue practicing in the firm until the 1940s, when he partnered with James S. Craig, and in the early 1950s, when they partnered with Eberhard Zeidler.
 

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48. The Guardian: Alsop Change of Career
Robert Booth, forwarded by Adam Sobolak

Will Alsop quits architecture for painting

Will Alsop, the Stirling prize-winning architect who carved a reputation as the profession's enfant terrible for his blob-shaped buildings and disdain for conservative planning, today quit his practice to spend more time painting.

At an age when most architects are entering their most productive years, Alsop, 61, announced plans to walk away from day-to-day architecture and launch a "serious inquiry into painting" instead. He said his decision was partly the result of opposition to his style of architecture within parts of the establishment.

The surprise decision by the Royal Academician follows a controversial career which has veered between critical success and financial frailty. In 2000 Alsop scooped the Royal Institute for British Architects building of the year award for Peckham library, a typically exuberant turquoise and yellow structure. Four years later he was forced to sell his firm to venture capitalists after it entered administration.

"I love architecture but one of the things that gets up my nose, particularly in London, is that doing anything is like pulling teeth," he said.

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49. The Guardian: Charity Regulators Investigate Prince's Foundation
Robert Booth

Prince Charles's architecture body faces inquiry

Prince Charles's architecture body faces inquiry

* Buzz up!
* Digg it

* Robert Booth
* The Guardian, Monday 14 September 2009
* Article history

Charity regulators are investigating the activities of one of Prince Charles's most prominent causes, the Prince's Foundation for the Built Environment.

The move was sparked by reports in the Guardian last month that the prince and his charity had influenced the course of a series of major property developments in the UK.

The Charity Commission said it was seeking answers from the foundation, a registered charity, about whether it had intervened in planning disputes or influenced the choice of architects on projects such as the £1bn redevelopment of Chelsea Barracks.

The foundation is known to have advised on the selection of new architects for the scheme after the prince personally complained to the site's owners, the Qatari royal family, about the proposed designs by the firm of the modernist architect Richard Rogers.

Rogers was subsequently sacked, with the developers citing the prince's concerns. Five of the 10 firms shortlisted to design a replacement have close links to the foundation.

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