1. Trudeau and the FLQ - Video Cabaret
Catherine Nasmith

I love Video Cabaret productions, Canadian history told in a completely unique and engaging way.  The intrepid company is serious about telling our stories, yet making them engaging, visually arresting, and comic. The current production of Trudeau and the FLQ did not disappoint.

I can remember the events in this play from the news growing up....50 years later this is a story worth re-telling, complete with psychedelic graphics and fantastic swinging sixties colouring and costumes. I was amazed at how much of the detail had blurred in my memory.

The story seems particularly relevant as we come close to the end of a Quebec election where separatism is not far from the surface, and Justin Trudeau is now head of the Liberal Party of Canada.

The script by Michael Hollingsworth, makes literally larger than life figures human, comic, yet tells you what is important about them and their times. Trudeau's wit, arrogance, intelligence are well conveyed to the audience and lead to tragic consequences, but are also the foundation of a vibrant post centennial Canadian cultural mosaic. The tragedy grows from the collision of two sets of conflicting values and the evangelical arrogance of their respective advocates.

Don't miss it. Runs to the first week of May, and there are plenty of school performances available. http://www.soulpepper.ca/performances/14_season/trudeau_and_the_flq.asp

2. World Heritage Nomination Pimachiowin Aki
Catherine Nasmith

Instead of being the hoped for bridge between peoples, the Ontario and Manitoba governments and First Nations nomination to have Pimachiowin Aki, declared a World Heritage Site, it is highlighting differences in European and native perspectives. Pimachiowin Aki is 33,400 square kilometres of boreal forest straddling the Ontario Manitoba border,

The communities living there see themselves as part of the land, therefore protection of the land is the key to preserving and sharing their culture with others. Pimachiowin Aki translates as “the land that gives life”. The territory is currently crown land, thus was potentially subject to unwanted development schemes that would damage the delicate ecology and interaction sacred to the indigenous peoples who have been taking care of that land for thousands of years.

In her recent presentation at Willowbank, Sophia Raliauskas of Poplar River First Nation, and a persistent champion of the nomination, discussed the reasons for and challenges of that process. She, together with Elders and other community members, have already secured permanent protection for 1 million hectares of land they recognize as their traditional territory.

 “We joined together in 2002 in a spirit of cooperation and mutual respect to protect our ancestral lands as a trust and duty to future generations, and to seek international recognition for the boreal forest and our culture. As we worked together, our communities participated in a wonderful rediscovery of the rich history of our people.”

The First Nation Partners of Pimachiowin Aki

Sophia Raliauskas has been recognized by many environmental organizations for her work on this project and is a member of the Order of Manitoba. She has been a key community facilitator and has spent years conducting community meetings to discuss whether this nomination was worth pursuing and if so, how, and under what conditions.

Long before Parks Canada agreed to add the site to Canada’s list of tentative World Heritage Sites, individual nations spent time coming to terms with whether such an essentially European designation was compatible with native values, traditions, and cultures, and would it be useful in preserving traditional native territories.

She noted one difference between native and European values. A world heritage designation implies that the site is of “outstanding universal value”, ie better than other lands, a statement that ran counter to native elders’ values of equality and shared stewardship. A hard won consensus to move forward has, sadly, been rewarded with UNESCO skepticism. Luckily, that has hardened resolve to persevere.

“Pimachiowin Aki is an outstanding example of Indigenous traditional land-use continuously adapted and evolved  for more than 6,000 years to meet the social, cultural and livelihood needs of the Anishinaabeg in their harsh subarctic boreal shield environment. Anishinaabe oral traditions, traditional knowledge, customary governance and cosmology are integral to sustaining traditional land-use practices. Customary harvesting areas, travel routes, livelihood and ceremonial sites and ancient pictographs provide testimony to holistic connectedness with the environment. Pimachiowin Aki fully encompasses the tangible and intangible elements of a living Anishinaabe cultural landscape that is resilient but vulnerable to irreversible change.”

From the UNESCO application.

World Heritage Status in itself does not guarantee protection, but in order to receive the World Heritage designation, Canada would have to demonstrate a sufficient conservation regime.

This application is a uniquely Canadian one, but undeveloped land as a cultural landscape has been challenging for European dominated UNESCO to recognize. Ms. Raliauskas noted that during the evaluation committee’s brief visit they did not seem to fully understand the significance of the place nor seem able to hear native messages.

2013 brought disappointment.

 "Pimachiowin Aki’s original nomination was deferred in 2013, partly due to the fact that the World Heritage Convention’s criteria didn’t adequately recognize “the indissoluble bonds that exist in some places between culture and nature”. In recognition of the exemplary efforts by First Nations and their partners, a UNESCO Advisory Mission in October 2013 brought natural and cultural heritage experts to the area to discuss ways to revise the nomination." 

from http://www.pimachiowinaki.org/our-news

A re-write and re-submission is in progress. You can learn more and support this effort with donations. www.pimachiowinaki.org

If you find yourself wanting to visit and learn more, Ms. Raliauskas operates Sagatay Lodge in Poplar River. It can only be reached by air.

For more information on the project click here

3. Call for Nominations - Top Ten Endangered Places List
Carolyn Quinn

LET US HEAR FROM YOU!

Submit your nominations to Canadas TOP TEN Endangered Places List by May 9, 2014

Heritage Canada The National Trust is accepting nominations to Canadas Top Ten Endangered Places List. The list is released annually to bring national attention to sites at risk due to neglect, lack of funding, inappropriate development and weak legislation. It has become a powerful tool in the fight to make landmarks, not landfill.

HCNT uses three primary criteria to determine the 10 final sites for inclusion on the list:

Significance of the site
Urgency of the threat
Community support for its preservation

If you know a site that should be included on our list, tell us about it today.

Click here for the 2014 Top Ten Endangered Places List Form.

Nominations should be received by Friday, May 9, 2014. The 2014 list will be announced in June.

Feel free to contact us if youre considering a nomination or have any questions.

By email: heritagecanada@heritagecanada.org or phone: (613) 237-1066.

Contact:
Carolyn Quinn
Director, Communications
cquinn@heritagecanada.org
613-237-1066 ext. 229; cell 613-797-7206.

4. Toronto Preservation Board Moves York Square Forward for Designation
Catherine Nasmith

In spite of pleas from the developer who wants to redevelop York Square to defer a designation, and their attempts to divert local residents from their interest in its preservation as a vitally important part of Yorkville's history, the Toronto Preservation Board yesterday voted to recommend York Square for designation under the Ontario Heritage Act.

Linda Lewis, who did the background research and nominated the property for protection was at the hearing representing the Toronto Architectural Conservancy, and was delighted that the Preservation Board adopted the staff recommendations to designate.

The matter will be going forward to Toronto East York Community Council to the April meeting.

For More Background Click Here 

The matter may be deferred there. 

5. Central Tech Playing Field - Committee of Adjustment turns down Change of Use
Catherine Nasmith

Public Space does matter.  

The Committee of Adjustment voted to turn down the Toronto District School Boards application to change the zoning on their playing field from "educational" to "private" thereby preventing the construction of a domed, concrete playing field over the traditional open field. Click here for background 

The hearing was well attended, with lots of delegations against the proposal.

Committee of Adjustment decisions can be appealled to the Ontario Municipal Board, so this battle may not be over, and may be repeated in other locations.

6. Torontoism: Photograping the Cultural Landscape
Jonathan Castellino

Jonathan Castellino: I Imagine a City in Which We Hide Less

Jonathan Castellino is a hobby urban archaeologist and photographer based in the city of Toronto. His photographs document the intersection of built environment and cultural landscape as it speaks to the social imagination. While focusing primarily on contemporary urban ruins, his work also tends to take a broader perspective, examining the place and meaning of these spaces in urban life.
After we've published some of his photos on Torontoism and found them really good, we've decided to ask him some questions for you, to discover what it means to be a photographer in Toronto, what are his favourite spots to photograph and much, much more..

Click here for Link

7. Letter to the Editor: Aga Khan Museum...Too High a Price
Andrew van Velzen

A lament for Torontos heritage buildings

Re: A new, magnificent act of urban reclamation, March 24

I couldn’t disagree more with Christopher Hume’s opinion of the new Aga Khan Museum and Ismaili Centre, which will be opening up later this year in Don Mills. To me this is far from “a magnificent act of urban reclamation,” as he claims. In fact I think it’s a grotesque act of urban destruction.

When John Parkin’s modernist classic, the former headquarters of the Bata Shoe Co., was destroyed without even a whimper, we were promised something much better, even spectacular. However, as pleasant as the new buildings may be, they haven’t lived up to their billing.

This struck me the other day as I passed by on the GO bus. It saddened and angered me that this city had let a priceless John Parkin structure slip into oblivion yet again. I’m thinking of course of the old Terminal One building at Pearson International, considered revolutionary in aviation architecture when it was built in the early 1960s. Like the Bata building, it should have been saved.

The Toronto-Dominion Centre is an architectural gem (coincidentally Parkin collaborated on it with the great Mies van der Rohe), but did the gorgeous old Bank of Toronto building need to be replaced by a glass pavilion? The same goes for the wonderful art deco Concourse Building on Adelaide, obliterated to make way for what we’re promised will be a wonderful, architecturally appealing skyscraper.

Editor's Note:
We did try to save it, so many people spoke out but no luck.

Click here for Link

8. Blog TO: Past Views of University Avenue Toronto

The Long-Lost Chestnut Trees of University Avenue

It's hard to believe, but this is a photo of University Avenue. Today, this stretch of road is "Hospital Row," lined with concrete and glass. But this is what it looked like in 1896. That's Queen Park off in the distance. The Legislative Building had only recently been opened, but the land — previously part of the University of Toronto — had been leased by the Province all the way back in the 1850s.

They turned it into a public park. It was opened by the Prince of Wales, the guy would who later become King Edward VII (the same King Eddie our hotel is named after, and who now sits astride his horse as a statue in the park). About 30 years before that, 500 horse chestnut trees were planted along University Avenue and a grassy promenade was built down the centre of the street. It became one of Toronto's grandest avenues. Even Charles Dickens was impressed when he came to town.

Editor's Note:
Note there are no crossing streets either, just a promenade to the Legislative Assembly Buildings.

Click here for Link

9. HIStory and HERitage: Graham Crawford, Hamilton's Brilliant Story Teller
Catherine Nasmith

Its the Narrative that is Important

Graham Crawford, who founded and operates HIStory and HERitage in downtown Hamilton is a communicator by trade and it shows in everything he does. In retirement from a successful career in corporate communications he has taken his considerable ability and devoted it to telling Hamilton's stories to Hamilton and anyone else who is interested. And many are.

He talked about his decision to found the gallery to pursue his interests, and share them with others. What makes him different from historians and many advocates is that he knows the value of narrative, what is the story and knows that such stories are what ground any place in people's memories, the narrative is what creates the heritage value that we want to connect with and enjoy.

I had the treat of hearing him talk about his gallery last night, which has had several exhibitions. Because they were all done in electronic format, they are all archived on his website. This gallery offers many lessons in how to connect community with each other, with our collective history and on a budget.

Spend an afternoon just listening to the stories and looking at all the great pictures. If you aren't already a fan of this interesting city, you will soon be.  

Click here for Link

10. Hamilton Spectator: Developer working to save church bell tower, wall
Meredith MacLeod

James Street Baptist Church turning into 30-storey building

Scott Gardner,Scott Gardner, Hamilton Spectator - The developer working on the James Street Baptist Church hopes to save the stone entrance and bell tower facing James Street

Work will begin next week inside the former James Street Baptist Church to shore up historic elements that will be integrated into a new 30-storey tower.

In about three weeks, what developer Louie Santaguida of Stanton Renaissance calls a "physical dismantlement" of the rear three-quarters (15,370 square feet) of the church will begin.

A demolition permit for the building — which carries a heritage designation — was cleared by the city last week, and construction barriers were put around the property.

Santaguida said he's particularly concerned about the safety of the facade and roof facing Jackson Street. A portion of a window on that side recently fell out, for instance. Engineers he hired concluded sections of the church are structurally unsound.

Editor's Note:
This structure as proposed will be similar to one erected in Mimico adjacent to the GO station. Stanton Renaissance's On-the-GO Mimico is a 26-storey condominium building. http://msarch.ca/projects/11 The exisiting structure is a bull's eye, surrounded by no less then 10 OHA Part IV Designated structures, and one Part V Heritage District.

Click here for Link

11. Hamilton Spectator: Gas bar canopy under consideration for heritage designation
Stacey Escott

Scott Gardner, Hamilton Spectator - The city is recommending the canopy that covers the gas bar at Canadian Tire on Main Street be put on the registry under the Ontario Heritage Act

An unlikely Hamilton landmark is vying for a spot on a heritage designation list.

The Canadian Tire Corporation made a submission in September to designate the canopy of the gas bar at the 304 Main St. E. store under the Ontario Heritage Act. The canopy was built in the 1970s.

The owner of the franchise store, Sean Disdero, is thrilled with the idea. His own history with the company dates back 25 years and his location on Main Street at Victoria Avenue was the first Canadian Tire to be franchised in 1934.

"One thing you try to do is give back to the community as much as you can, and any time you can preserve a building or preserve the heritage or the story of something in a town, I think it goes a long way," said Disdero, 42.

According to a report that's being presented to the Planning Committee on April 1, staff is recommending the central Hamilton property be included in the Register of Property of Cultural Heritage Value or Interest. Once the property becomes registered, if the owner seeks a demolition permit, they must give the city 60 days notice before it can be issued.

Editor's Note:
Hamilton City Council ultimately quashed this initiative, in spite of the fact that the City of Mississauga under took comprenhensive researched and passed a bylaw in support of OHA Designation during 2009-2011 for exactly the same structure, in exactly the same condition. This situation clearly illustrates how unevenly the OHA is applied. see, Hamilton gas bar not right for heritage designation http://www.thespec.com/news-story/4441537-hamilton-gas-bar-not-right-for-heritage-designation/

Click here for Link

12. Hamilton Spectator: Heritage protection urged for more than 1,000 buildings
Matthew Van Dongen

Council is looking at extending heritage protection to hundreds of downtown buildings over the next five years as part of an ambitious new preservation project.

The city planning committee endorsed a consultant's report Tuesday that recommends adding 1,027 downtown addresses to the municipal register, giving them temporary protection if an owner seeks a demolition permit.

About 100 of those buildings have "considerable" historical value and should be at the top of the list for formal heritage designation under provincial law, the report states.

"This is an important statement we're sending," said downtown Councillor Jason Farr. "We're saying we're a community of character with a unique heritage ... and we value that heritage."

Farr said between one and three buildings are knocked down in the area each year, so it makes sense to give council "time to reflect" on whether designation is needed for threatened structures. Council has 60 days to decide whether to grant provincial protection to a building on the municipal register once a demolition permit is requested.

Heritage resource manager Ian Kerr-Wilson said the goal "is not to save everything, but to agree on a better filter" for deciding which properties deserve protection.

He said it's just as important for council to approve the evaluation framework pitched by the consultant, which includes looking at the heritage value of buildings within the historical context of neighbourhoods such as the Gore, Durand or Beasley.

Click here for Link

13. Hamilton Spectator: Neglected Victorians on James North get new lease on life
Meredith MacLeod

91 JAMES NORTH - Kaz Novak,The Hamilton Spectator. From left, Sandy McIntosh, Dan Lawrie, Louis Grilli, Mark Milne, Keith Stinson, Michael Clarke. Tim Potocic (not pictured)

Three decrepit four-storey Victorians on James Street North are getting a makeover.

A group of eight partners bought five addresses on the westerly stretch just north of the intersection with York Boulevard in November. They cleared out the interiors and have erected scaffolding to get to work on the facades.

The ground-floor spaces of 95, 105 and 105½ James St. N. have hosted a number of businesses including, recently, an electronics repair shop, soccer retailer, cash-for-gold exchange and hair salon. A current clothing shop intends to return to the location once the renovation is complete.

"We think that corner is really important," said Mark Milne, one of the project partners. "It's one of the few stretches left needing attention."

He says it was evident the upper residential floors of the three painted brick buildings have been vacant for at least 50 years.

Click here for Link

14. Hamilton Spectator: Preserving Delta Secondary
Mark McNeil

hie Coward, Hamilton Spectator - One of Delta

Hamilton's oldest high school, Delta Secondary, is slated for closure in June of 2016.

The Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board has decided students from Delta, Parkview and Sir John A. Macdonald will be consolidated into a new, $38.8-million high school in the lower city.

Meanwhile, the city is moving to designate Delta under the Ontario Heritage Act.

Click here for Link

15. RaiseTheHammer.org: OPEN LETTER - Durand Questions James Street Baptist Demolition Process
Editorial Staff ; Janice Brown

Durand Neighbourhood Association president Janice Brown questions the process the city has followed to grant a partial demolition to the iconic church.

James Street Baptist Church (RTH file photo)

Re: Decision to allow partial demolition of James Street Baptist Church

I am writing on behalf of the Durand Neighbourhood Association (DNA) about recent approval to demolish two-thirds of James Street Baptist Church. We are requesting clarification and answers to the following concerns:

1. Use of the "Delegation of Powers" Process?

2. Defining Demolition versus Alteration?

3. Role of Public Input/Citizen Engagement?

4. Role of Peer Review?

5. Terms of Conditions?

Click here for Link

16. Northumberland Today: Cramahe to designate Trinity Church
Cecilia Nasmith

Cobourg Legion development delayed

COBOURG - The sheer weight of community opposition to a proposed redevelopment of the Cobourg Legion property has led Deputy Mayor Stan Frost to call for a time-out.

At council this week, Frost made a motion to table the issue until next month, in hopes some changes can be made that will temper the expressions of opposition that council has been receiving over the past two weeks.

TVM Cobourg Inc. is applying for rezoning on the Orr Street property, which consists of a hall on the north side of the road and a large parking lot on the south side.

The six-storey structure proposed for the parking-lot site would have 850 sq. ft. on the ground floor to accommodate the Legion, with 59 dwelling units on the upper five floors. Across the road, the Legion hall would be demolished to add 68 parking spaces for the use of the Legion. At the building site on the south side, 69 parking spaces will be available, both underground and on the surface.

Many in opposition agree that the design seems out of character for a location so close to heritage properties, including the Sifton-Cook Heritage Centre next door. But the objection most often mentioned is its six-storey height in an area where nothing is higher than the nearby four-storey Legion Village.

This week's agenda had two speakers opposing the project and 16 letters in the agenda package indicating opposition.

Last week's committee-of-the-whole meeting heard three speakers in opposition and received six letters in opposition. Two letters — from the Downtown Business Improvement Area and Northumberland Central Chamber of Commerce — were in favour.

One of this week's speakers, Keith Oliver, offered an analysis of the opposition being expressed.

Of the 121 comments he provided an analysis on, he said 12% would be agreeable if the building were four storeys instead of the proposed six.

Click here for Link

17. Oakville: List of Heritage Specialists, Craftspeople

TRADESPEOPLE AND COMPANIES SPECIALISING IN HERITAGE PROJECTS IN SOUTHWESTERN ONTARIO

A useful list of all kinds of sources for artisans, heritage professionals, and suppliers for your heritage project. Compiled by the Town of Oakville

Click here for Link

18. Wpg Free Press: Heritage-building victory cast in granite
Bartley Kives

Workers Compensation Board completes refacing its building

WFP - More than 4,000 black granite slabs had to be removed and reattached to the Workers Compensation Board's 54-year-old headquarters on Broadway.

The Workers Compensation Board has spent three years and $14 million to ensure its downtown office building looks precisely the same as it did before.

To heritage advocates, this is a victory.

More than 4,000 black granite slabs have been re-affixed to the WCB's 54-year-old headquarters on Broadway as part of an effort to solve a problem common to other stone-clad structures built in Winnipeg from the late 1950s to the early 1970s.

During this era, the architects who designed some of Winnipeg's best-known modernist buildings were not aware of the effect freeze-thaw cycles would have on stone cladding.

Over the course of decades, water and ice got behind the stones on the Winnipeg Art Gallery, Public Safety Building, convention centre and Centennial Concert Hall, cracking or rusting away the braces that hold the stones in place.

The art gallery and concert hall exteriors were repaired, while the $21.3-million tab for re-cladding the Public Safety Building led the Winnipeg Police Service to purchase and renovate the Canada Post building instead -- at a cost of $210 million.

The RBC Convention Centre Winnipeg, meanwhile, chose to replace its stone cladding with a lighter, cheaper metal alloy. That wasn't an option for the Workers Compensation Board building, whose black-granite facade is all but unique in Winnipeg.

"There were all sorts of really undesirable options for changing the exterior envelope," said George Anderson, the WCB's director of administration. "The thought of getting rid of the building just was not palatable."

Click here for Link

19. dezeen: Quebec church transformed into a library
Staff

Canadian studios Dan Hanganu Architectes and Côté Leahy Cardas Architectes have revamped the tent-like structure of a church in Quebec to create a modern library featuring coloured glazing, spiral staircases and lofty ceilings.

Completed in 1964 by Canadian architect Jean-Marie Roy, the St. Denys-du-Plateau Church already boasted a dramatically pointed structure that appears to float just above the ground. Dan Hanganu Architectes and Côté Leahy Cardas Architectes left this structure intact but added a pair of glazed blocks, one at either end.

Lofty church in Quebec transformed into a library by Dan Hanganu and Cote Leahy Cardas

Renamed as the Monique-Corriveau Library, in memory of a local author, the building now houses a public library and local community centre spread across two overground storeys and a large basement level.

Editor's Note:
Glorious! Hats off to respectful adaptation!

Click here for Link

20. Cambridge Times: Galt Post Office Renewal
Ray Martin

Architect selected for $11M Old Post Office project

CAMBRIDGE – An architect has been named for one of the most prestigious rehabilitation projects in the province.

During Thursday’s (March 20) municipal heritage advisory committee meeting, chair John Oldfield announced Toronto’s Rounthwaite Dick and Hadley (RDH) Architects have been selected by a unanimous decision to work on the Old Galt Post Office.

Click here for Link

21. Atlantic Cities: Rehabilitation in San Francisco
Alexis Madrigal

A 26-Story History of San Francisco

140 New Montgomery is the San Francisco headquarters of Yelp. The local business information company occupies nine floors of a newly refinished building that once served as the headquarters of the Pacific Bell Telephone Company.

The lobby has been beautifully reworked. Photographs of artificial lightning hang on the old black marble walls. The reddish ceiling is a glorious mélange of eastern iconography: unicorns, phoenixes, clouds, and other miscellaneous exotica. Three-fingered hands, perhaps mudra inspired, metaphorically hold up the building.

At the same time, this is a modern building designed for millennial appreciation: A smart elevator system, a xeriscaped courtyard, lots of bike storage, and excellent access to public transport. 2.3 million pounds of rebar and 10,000 tons of concrete have made the building more resilient.

Click here for Link

22. Architectural Record: Architecture in Havana
Clifford A. Pearson, forwarded by Alex Taranu

Letter from Havana

National School of Ballet, Post Revolution, restoration in progress

Surrounded by history but bereft of innovative work from the past four decades, Cuban architects hope for the future.

Making a living as an architect is tough anywhere. But in Cuba it is essentially impossible. Although Raúl Castro has loosened state control of the economy a bit, the private sector still barely exists. All legally-sanctioned construction is done by the government. And everyone agrees that a government salary doesn’t cover anyone’s monthly expenses. Cubans, though, are resourceful and somehow find ways to make ends meet. Over coffee at the Habana Libre Hotel (originally the Havana Hilton), I kept asking a respected local architect what he was working on and kept hearing about fascinating research projects, none of which produced any income. I finally gave up all pretense of politeness and bluntly asked, “But how do you make money?” He told me on the condition I don’t reveal his identity: He gives lectures abroad and employs convoluted ways to bring the funds back home.

SLIDE SHOWcuba
Photo © Architectural Record
Casa de Hilda Sarrá (1934/1941), by Rafael de Cárdenas.
----- Advertising -----

Six days in Havana earlier this year introduced me to a place where five decades of economic stagnation explain only the surface reality: 1958 Chevies still rumbling down the streets, 19th-century villas holding onto their Neoclassical charms as they fade in the Caribbean sun, and low-rise streetscapes broken only by church spires or the occasional Modern tower the same age as those big-bodied cars. Dig a bit deeper, though, and you find a more complex reality: people like that architect who somehow push forward despite institutional indifference, opposition, and a city that is slowly preparing for the future.

A long history of overcoming adversity and a culture rich in architecture, design, literature, and all kinds of performing arts provides Havana with a strong foundation on which to build its next chapter. And as Fidel Castro’s health continues to deteriorate and a recent survey by the Atlantic Council shows a growing majority of Americans in favor of more direct engagement with Cuba, progress in Havana may happen sooner rather than later.

Click here for Link