1. New Minister of Culture: Aileen Carroll
Catherine Nasmith

Ontario's New Minister of Culture

The new Minister of Culture is newly elected Aileen Carroll of Barrie, a former M.P., and alderman. Ms. Carroll's C.V. doesn't show a history in cultural matters or heritage but nonetheless McGuinty has appointed  someone with a very  impressive history to what is often considered a junior portfolio.

BIO FROM AILEEN CARROLL's  CAMPAIGN WEB SITE

After three successful terms with the federal Liberals, Aileen Carroll is now turning her attention toward provincial politics. Carroll was nominated April 16 to run as a Dalton McGuinty Liberal in the upcoming provincial election.

Carroll was first elected as a Liberal Member of Parliament in 1997. A popular representative, she was re-elected in 2000 and again in 2004. Serving as the Minister for International Cooperation, she was Barrie’s first, and only, federal cabinet minister.

As Liberal MP and Minister, Carroll proved herself to be a strong voice for Barrie.

Her accomplishments include securing $8.3 million for the return of GO Train services, and securing funding for infrastructure projects, such as upgrades to our drinking water. During her time in office, Barrie received over $2 million for homelessness projects and facilities and the City of Barrie began receiving millions in long-term funding from the GST and gas tax rebates, both federal Liberal initiatives.

Carroll has already worked closely with Premier McGuinty and several members of his Caucus on the RVH Cancer Care Centre project. A strong advocate for the urgency of this project, Carroll convinced the Ministry of Health to include it in its five-year infrastructure plan. Construction on the new Cancer Care Centre will begin next year.

An active volunteer, Carroll chaired the important community fundraising projects for the Barrie Public Library and St. Joseph’s High School. She was Honorary Chair for the Barrie United Way, a volunteer at Hospice Simcoe and a Founding Member of Barrie’s Big Sister Association.

Carroll’s career in politics started as a Barrie City Councillor. She is a graduate of St. Mary’s and York Universities, and co-owned a manufacturing and retail business in Barrie for many years. She and her husband Kevin Carroll, Q.C., have two adult children.

Carroll is running as a McGuinty Liberal because she believes in the progress this government is making across the province. Hospital wait times are finally improving. Students are no longer locked out by constant education sector strikes. And for the first time in more than a decade, the provincial government is taking the environment seriously.
But, she says, there is more work to be done. That is why she is running with the McGuinty Liberals, to ensure that progress in Barrie continues.

2. Two Weeks Two Countries Two Heritage Conferences
Catherine Nasmith

Through the generous support of urbanspace Property Group, BHN was able to attend the recent National Trust conference in the twin cities of Minneapolis St. Paul. Over 2000 delegates were present from all across the U. S.

2000 delegates allows for many different sessions, tours, and themes. It was amazing and depressing to see first hand just how much further advanced the preservation field is in a country where a Canadian might expect fewer, not more, restrictions on private property rights. Perhaps it is because designation is seen as an infringement that significant funding has become available in the United States. Many preservation projects are funded through combining different financial incentives from culture, preservation, main street renewal and housing dollars.

One thing that was striking was everyone talking the same preservation language. The law that governs preservation flows from the federal level, along with common funding programs and administration structures since the heritage laws were passed in the 1960’s. That allows for common training and information sharing for all the members Landmark Commissions from 50 states.

In contrast at the Heritage Canada Conference the following week much time was spent explaining the legal context of various challenges because each province in Canada has different laws, administration, programs and challenges. The balkanization of the field makes it that much more difficult to advance our agenda, and may be one of the key reasons we have not been able to achieve appropriate support for heritage conservation in Canada.

At the Heritage Canada Conference we are just starting to talk again 1about national funding programs, and it is advocates, not government doing the talking.

One of the most interesting Trust conference streams was on heritage preservation as a green strategy, which will also be the theme of the Ontario Heritage Conference in 2008. Other themes were intangible heritage, marketing and communication strategies, heritage administration, funding programs, and revitalization strategies for small communities. The main streets program has evolved into a very sophisticated economic and community development strategy, involving much more than heritage preservation. For example much work is being done to develop revival strategies that are not focused on tourism.

Last week, the National Trust announced that it would be holding its 2011 conference in Buffalo. One of the key people behind the Buffalo bid was architect Clinton Brown, who will be familiar as part of the team called in to negotiate an alternate scheme to save Hamilton’s Lister Block. According to Mr. Brown one of the key reasons Buffalo was chosen over other cities was the combination of its wealth of architectural treasures and its proximity to Canada, offering the potential of many new delegates. While 2011 is a long way away, the Buffalo conference will be a must attend.

3. Loopholes in the Ontario Heritage Act
Michael McClelland and Scott Weir

225 James Street, Hamilton

The Ministry of Culture is to be congratulated on its recent and very effective work with municipalities and with other provincial ministries in managing the Ontario Heritage Act. There are however two recent examples where additional action may need to be taken to ensure that heritage resources are adequately conserved.

The first of these two examples is Osgoode Hall in Toronto. The Ontario Realty Corp has proposed significant alterations to Osgoode Hall even though the City of Toronto, its heritage staff and its Heritage Preservation Board have indicated that those alterations should not be approved. It was the opinion of the Preservation Board that these alterations will negatively affect the heritage aspects of the structure. The City has said no to the alterations, but the City is powerless under the Act because the alterations are being undertaken by a provincial agency, the Ontario Realty Corporation.

Next year it is anticipated that new regulations and guidelines will be introduced that relate to the Act and provincially-owned heritage properties. Should the Osgoode Hall alterations be delayed until the ORC has the opportunity to review the appropriate heritage regulations? Should the ORC work with the City of Toronto to conserve heritage resources? We would say yes.

The second example is the case of 225 James Street South in Hamilton. This very fine pre-Confederation structure is being proposed for demolition. The replacement structure is to be a portable shed already stored elsewhere on the property. The City of Hamilton won’t act to protect the building under the Ontario Heritage Act even though the building has been identified on the City’s own Register of Buildings of Architectural and/or Historical Interest. Their reasoning is that Hamilton City Council should not designate properties under Part IV of the Act unless they have the owner’s consent. This requirement nullifies the effectiveness of the Ontario Heritage Act to protect cultural resources. It is as if the Council does not understand the intent of their own Official Plan. We wouldn’t suggest that the Ministry step in at every case, but what should be done when municipalities routinely and consistently ignore their responsibility to address heritage issues?

In both examples important aspects of Ontario’s heritage are being threatened. In both cases the effectiveness of the Ontario Heritage Act has been muffled, not by the private sector, but by public sector bodies. These buildings are too important to lose or to damage and we would ask of the Ministry, which has done such good work to date, that it review these particular cases, these loopholes, to determine if action could be taken.

Background City of Toronto file on Osgoode

www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2007/te/bgrd/backgroundfile-7150.pdf



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4. Alma College - OMB Hearing Last Week
Catherine Nasmith

Alma College front door may be all that survives

Something very strange is going on regarding Alma College.

Even though the St. Thomas’ Council came to a behind closed doors agreement with Zubick properties permitting demolition of all but the front entrance of the building, last week the Ontario Municipal Board proceeded with hearing the developers appeal of the Council’s earlier refusal to issue a demolition permit.

Agreeing to demolish was a dramatic reversal for St. Thomas Council. Alma College has been designated under the Ontario Heritage Act since the 70’s. The Council has struggled with this owner for several years, but has been unable to stop the cultural vandalism. Huge portions of the college have been pulled down, the interior stripped, yet what’s left is still a major landmark with plenty of people actively trying to save it.

Local media are outraged at the secret Council decision, and are questioning whether the secrecy invalidates the decision. So far no one has actually challenged the legality in court.

It is unusual for the OMB to hear a case after an agreement has been reached at the municipal level. Testimony was given from all sides and the parties are waiting for the OMB decision.

The ACO have appealed to the Minister of Culture to intervene to stop demolition, but as Caroline Di Cocco was defeated nothing can happen until a new Minister is appointed. It would take courage to wade into this mess the first week on the job, but that is exactly what Caroline Di Cocco did on the Lister Block. Would it be too much to hope for that the McGuinty government will appoint a third strong heritage advocate to the Culture portfolio?

5. New Book: Old Canadian Cemeteries
Jennifer Asling

Old Canadian Cemeteries is a comprehensive, beautifully-illustrated survey
of Canada's historical burial places, from early pioneer and immigrant
graveyards to great 19th-century "rural" cemeteries, with a guide to
decoding the symbolic meanings of monuments. Author Jane Irwin takes the
reader on a visual tour of historic cemeteries examining the different
burial traditions across Canada while John de Visser's superlative
photography illustrate the history, majesty and mystery of these burial
sites.     http://www.fireflybooks.com

6. Two exciting books concerning Fort York and Toronto's early history

Onne just published; one forthcoming:

Carl Benn's Fort York: a Short History and Guide

(City of Toronto Culture, 2007, 34 pp, colour illustrations throughout) is now on sale at Fort York's canteen/shop:

The Fort York: A Short History and Guide successfully balances scholarship and accessibility with imagery and design to give users a vital on-site navigation tool and contextual document which defines the site in the international, national and local realms. The publication utilizes the format of an exhibit catalogue to explore as a display, with the site's important heritage buildings and landscapes forming the main components of the 'collection'.


Robert Malcomson's True Cause: the Capture of Little York, 1813.

Robin Brass Studio. 400 pages, 70 illustrations and maps. Release - March 2008.

After extensive research in Canadian, American and British archives, Robert Malcomson brings to life the statesmen, soldiers and citizens whose dreams and destinies clashed at York. He reveals the True Causes behind the events at York of 27 April 1813 and allows the voices of the mighty and the meek to declare their versions of the story. Scholars and family historians alike will find fresh insights about the capture of Upper Canada‚s capital and the people who lived through that harrowing spring. Myths are overturned and forgotten names are once more read aloud.

7. Globe and Mail: The Matador saved
John Barber

It may not be paradise, but the Matador is no place for a parking lot

Peace and happiness prevailed at city hall yesterday afternoon when the Toronto Parking Authority summarily rescinded its decision to expropriate the decrepit old Matador nightclub on Dovercourt Road. The horn-rimmed parking authoritarians smiled sheepishly as the wooly downtown protesters, including eminent author Michael Ondaatje, cheered their resolution to "save" the Matador.

The decision will permit the beloved booze can to decline into the mud without civic intervention, unless and until somebody discovers a positive way to save it for sure.

Click here for Link

8. Globe and Mail: Trouble at R.C. Harris Plant
Tim Shufelt

Infrastructure R.C. Harris - The water-filtration plant has sprung a leak

To prevent damage that would ultimately cost more money, the city ponied up some cash. Critics complained

Sometimes, when City Hall says it's spending money because of time constraints, it really means it.

The City of Toronto recently cited "time constraints" as the reason for awarding Clifford Restoration a contract to restore the roof, windows and masonry of the R.C. Harris Water Treatment Plant without searching for a competitive bid. The contract was worth about a quarter of a million dollars, contributing to the $8-million already spent by the city for a long-term restoration plan.

Click here for Link

9. Subscribe to The Distillery District Newsletter

The Distillery District is publishing a great little newsletter, that includes news on all their events, and usually starts with a very well researched article by Sally Gibson on some aspect of the DD history. The current one is on the great fire of 1869.

To subscribe:  contact:  Linda Fujita, Senior Property Manager
lf@thedistillerydistrict.com
416-364-1177

Click here for Link

10. Globe and Mail: Demise of Scarborough's Zingburger
Dave LeBlanc

Demolished this summer, the eatery in Toronto was one of the city's few examples of 'Googie' style.

Gone, but not forgotten

Thanks to Google's outdated satellite map, I can still call up an aerial image of Zingburger and imagine they're still serving up fries and gravy underneath that sexy circular lid. But the reality is that Zingburger is no more; it was demolished this past summer without a fight.

Not enough zing to inspire us, I guess.

In Seal Beach, Calif., concerned citizens have saved another 1950s-era eatery with distinctive architecture from demolition, this one the beloved umbrella-themed Parasol diner — it's going to survive as a new link in the retro-themed Mel's Drive-In chain. But, here at home, there was nothing to stop the wrecker's ball from taking down the lovely zig-zaggy carousel of Zingburger.

Editor's Note:
I have memories of this building from the 60's when it was the only place for miles for a midnight burger

Click here for Link

11. Spacing Magazine: Videos on Toronto

Have a look at some great amateur footage on Toronto

Time for you to vote on your favorite My Toronto video!

Over the summer months we asked people to make their own promotional videos for Toronto. This city has always been a hard place to sum up, and marketing campaigns that try to do so are routinely and widely criticized for not getting it right. So we thought, let’s see what happens if we ask folks to play the role of creative director and let them show us their Toronto. We encouraged people to be as creative as they want, and show the parts of Toronto they love, not just the usual images of the city.

Click here for Link

12. Toronto Star: City Opposes Osgoode Hall Alteration
Donovan Vincent

Access ramp will blight Osgoode Hall, critics argue

Project delay sought by city's heritage office

An access ramp set to be built next year in front of the Osgoode Hall courthouse should be delayed because it would have a "serious negative impact' on the building's architectural heritage, say Toronto's preservation department.

The provincially owned building, which houses the Law Society of Upper Canada, the Great Library and Convocation Hall as well as the Ontario Court of Appeal and Superior Court of Justice, was designated a national historic site in 1979.

The $1.5 million ramp project by Ontario Realty Corp. is to start next April.

But the city's heritage and planning departments are calling for a deferral.

Click here for Link

13. Toronto Star: Ontario's Disappearing Farmhouses
Dan O'Reilly

Old farmhouse crop gets thin

Victorian Ontario's rural heritage often ends up bulldozed by 21st-century sprawl.

For now, the old Alex Bradburn house looks forlorn and threatened – boarded-up, sitting on temporary steel supports, dwarfed by cranes amid swirls of construction dust east of Warden Ave., north of Highway 407.

But unlike many similar remnants of Victorian Ontario's rural heritage that have been overrun by 21st-century sprawl, a new life awaits.

After being moved from its original location and boarded up for years, this circa-1855 farmhouse is to be a focal point in Phase 1 of Downtown Markham – a massive $3 billion, 20-year mixed-use development by the Remington Group.

Bradburn House, which once sat about a kilometre south near an off-ramp for the nearby Highway 407, is designated under the Ontario Heritage Act and has a heritage easement registered against it, says Regan Hutcheson, Markham's manager of heritage planning.

And Hutcheson points to the house as just one example of Markham's success in saving historic buildings despite rapid growth.

Click here for Link

14. Kitchener Record: Heritage Day Holiday?
Cynthia Comacchio

New holiday should be called Heritage Day

Ontario residents are no doubt delighted at the prospect of a new statutory holiday to brighten the dreary mid-winter. What most Ontarians probably don't realize is that Premier Dalton McGuinty is passing up an opportunity to make the February holiday meaningful to all, those with deep roots in this province as well as those recently arrived. We should be celebrating this day as Heritage Day.

Unlike the proposed Family Day, there is a strong historical precedent for this title, whose origins -- ironically -- can be traced directly to the government of Ontario. In fact, the Monday of the third week of February, which McGuinty proposes for the new holiday, has been known as Heritage Day since 1974. It marks the launch of Ontario Heritage Week, as designated more than 20 years ago, in 1985, also by the Ontario government.

Click here for Link

15. The Independent (Brighton and East Northumberland County)
Paul Dalby, forwarded by Rob Hamilton

History buff Jack Connor literally wrote the book when it comes to preservingHistory buff Jack Connor literally wrote the book

History buff Jack Connor literally wrote the book when it comes to preserving the heritage buildings of Trent Hills.

Jack Connor, 81, started his working life building outhouses in Presqu’ile Park but has dedicated his retirement years to preserving something a lot more substantial.

Click here for Link

16. King Township Sentinel: Heritage Owners thanked for Stewardship
Bill Rea

Owners of heritage homes in King are thanked at reception

King Township Heritage Committee chairperson Elaine Robertson indicated what the signs placed on buildings of historical or heritage interest look like. There are some 95 homes in King bearing heritage plaques, and members of the Township of King Heritage Committee wish there were more. There was a reception at King Township Museum last Wednesday night to recognize the owners of these homes and to try and spread the word about the program.

Click here for Link

17. Guelph Tribune: Preservation and Sense of Place
Paul Ross

Making Guelph a better place

Downtown Streetscape

Guelph is indeed fortunate that so many of its fine heritage buildings are still around for all of us to admire and enjoy. In the downtown, the fundamental elements of John Galt's radial plan are still readily identifiable, the neighbourhoods surrounding the downtown are replete with heritage structures of all shapes, sizes and uses and re-uses, and some of the more remote heritage farmhouses have been preserved by incorporating them into new subdivisions and industrial areas.

Click here for Link

18. Daily Commercial News
PATRICIA WILLIAMS

St. Pauls Anglican Church restoration work earns praise

Restoration of one of Toronto’s most historic churches, St. Paul’s Anglican Church on Bloor Street East, netted its design and construction team top kudos in the 2007 Heritage Toronto awards...

Click here for Link

19. Globeand Mail: Book Review -Barn Building
Carolyn Leitch

A celebration of Architectural History

BARN BUILDING, By Jon Radojkovic ,Boston Mills Press, 192 pages, $35

Jon Radojkovic is a man who loves his subject. In Barn Building, his passion is palpable and rather contagious as he provides photos and stories of the most beautiful and unique barns to be found in North America.

Mr. Radojkovic is a builder of timber frame barns and a photojournalist. He also has an ear for a good yarn and the stories are rich with human interest and detail. But there's no cornpone here: The writing is sophisticated and the author provides solid information on design, construction techniques and history.

The author visited and photographed every barn in the book. Along the way, Mr. Radojkovic describes the "golden age of barn construction" from the early 1700s to the mid-20th century. .....

Click here for Link

20. Toronto Star: Stratford gets Cudos
Diane Sewell

Ontario's perfect little city?

STRATFORD – Michele Boniface has had a lifelong thing for this southwestern Ontario city. She loves it so much that five years ago she pulled up stakes in her hometown, Edmonton, and made the move east.

"I came here as a child and I brought my students here," says Boniface, a former teacher who has also worked in film and television. Now serving as a co-ordinator for a local performing arts festival, she can't get over the level of friendliness in her adopted city.

"It blows me away," she says. "It has actually made me a warmer, friendlier person."

Click here for Link

21. Toronto Star: CRB recommends preserving Banting Farmland
Roberta Avery

Town `elated' by heritage ruling on Banting farmland

ALLISTON–This small town southwest of Barrie is celebrating the news that the Ontario Conservation Review Board has recommended that the land surrounding the birthplace of Sir Frederick Banting be protected as heritage land and not turned into a subdivision.

"The news is slowly trickling in and I can tell you that the community is elated, there are a lot of people who are extremely pleased," Mike MacEachern, mayor of New Tecumseth – which includes Alliston – said yesterday.

The property where Canada's first Nobel laureate and the co-discoverer of insulin was born and raised was bequeathed to the Ontario Historical Society Foundation by his nephew in 1998.

Click here for Link

22. Globe and Mail: Montreal Church Saved
Val Ross

Montreal museum's $40-million expansion to save 103-year-old church

Montreal museum's $40-million expansion to save 103-year-old church

Globe and Mail, Wednesday's October 17, 2007 at 3:56 AM EDT

In a province where once-flourishing churches are now mostly empty, the announcement that the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts is launching a $40-million expansion incorporating the 103-year-old Erskine and America Church on Sherbrooke Street comes as news of salvation.

The church, which hasn't had a religious service since 2004, contains 20 of the finest Tiffany stained-glass windows in North America. These will be incorporated into the new museum project, according to federal Public Works Minister Michel Fortier. Ottawa is contributing $13-million to help restore the nave of the church and transform it into a concert, conference and banquet hall. The rear of the church will be torn out to create six galleries on five floors. They'll connect to the Museum of Fine Arts' other buildings via underground links.

Click here for Link

23. Chronicle Herald: St. Patrick's Church Halifax
Jeffrey Simpson, forwarded by Rob Hamilton

St. Patrick's Can Still be Saved

Parishioners of a culturally significant Catholic church in Halifax are banding together to save the historic building on Brunswick Street.

The St. Patrick’s Church Restoration Society has received official approval from the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Halifax to restore the church and keep it open for worship on Sundays if it can come up with $300,000 in cash and the same amount in pledges by June 30.

"We’re confident we’re going to raise that money," Penny Doherty, chair of the society, said in an interview Tuesday.

"We’re working very hard."

The society has an ultimate goal of $3 million over the next five years, Ms. Doherty said.

Click here for Link

24. Daily Commercial News: Restoration of Masonry on Parliament Hill
KORKY KOROLUK

Masonry deterioration sparks review of Parliament repair plans

7Work estimate at $65M per year still not enough

Faster-than-expected deterioration of the exterior masonry on Parliament Hill’s West Block has forced re-examination of a long-term plan for renovation and repair of a cluster of Canada’s most important heritage buildings.

Click here for Link

25. The Buffalo News: 2011 National Trust Conference in Buffalo
Mark Sommer

National historic preservation conference coming to Buffalo - City beats out Philadelphia and Hartford for weeklong meeting in 2011

The National Trust for Historic Preservation announced Monday that the city will host the weeklong National Preservation Conference, getting the nod over Philadelphia and Hartford, Conn. The exposure for Buffalo will help the city continue to change its image and attract new visitors, said Ed Healy, spokesman for Buffalo Niagara Convention & Visitors Bureau.

"There will be at least 2,000 ardent preservation and architecture fans visiting Buffalo," Healy said. "They’re going to be blown away and then go back to their respective communities and sing our praises. It’s an unbelievable opportunity for the city to show off." ...

Click here for Link

26. This is Bath: Stothert and Pitt Foundry
forwarded by Stephen Otto

Riveside Schemes Leave Trouble in their Wake

Politicians have mounted a staunch defence of their handling of plans to develop a key riverside site in Bath.In the space of a few months, schemes for two multi-million-pound education centres in the heart of the city have come to grief amid fears of flooding.

But Bath and North East Somerset Council has rejected suggestions that it shares any blame for the collapse of plans for both Sir James Dyson's design school and Bath Spa University's arts campus at South Quays.

Both developments would have triggered investment in the city and helped begin the regeneration of the Western Riverside.

Civic leaders hope both schemes can still be found a home in the Bath area, but the council says both the Dyson Foundation and the university were well aware of the flood risks attached to the site, which includes the former Stothert and Pitt factory.

Click here for Link

27. Subtopia: Flint Michigan Photo Essay
forwarded by Alex Taranu

Devastation Worsse than Katrina

There we were in this plain white vehicle truckin’ northbound on the I-69 with oversized Starbucks cups in our hands (unfortunately, without those there would be absolutely no coffee in Indiana, a very sad fact it seems), whizzing past corn fields and Rest Areas and strange taxonomies of roadkill that accumulated every few hundred yards or so on the highway’s shoulders (I’m convinced Indiana has more roadkill than any other state in the U.S. – after forcing Wes to open his eyes while driving we spotted three mangled little corpses blur past us in a single second followed immediately by a broken down Oldsmobile, the perfect exclamation point to all that ended up there and would never make it across the road), squirrels, raccoons, mice, gophers, rabbits, cats, drivers (who knows what else) … the road to Flint was already a stroll through a long cemetery.

Click here for Link

28. BBC: "Casa de Pedra" - House of Stone , Sao Paulo
Gary Duffy

Favela fantasy gives rise to Gaudi house

Estavao Silva at home

Favela fantasy gives rise to Gaudi house.

There can be few prouder homeowners in Sao Paulo than Estevao Silva da Conceicao, who has spent more than two decades building a house that has become his lifelong passion.

The elaborate exterior sets the mood for the fantastical interior

The "Casa de Pedra" - the House of Stone - is one of the most unusual places in the city, and is to be found in the heart of the shanty town of Paraisopolis.

It is a magical place of archways peppered with stones, and walls covered with every kind of imaginable object from plates, cups, and statues, to typewriters and mobile phones.

It was built in a space of just 75 square metres (807 sq ft) and is eight metres (26ft) high.

Inside, a warren of stairways and tiny corridors lead to a roof garden at the top of the house which has an impressive view of the favela that is home to more than 70,000 people.

Click here for Link