1. Peterborough Architectural Conservation Advisory Committee 40th Anniversary
Gord Young Lakefield Heritage Research

Chair of PACAC Stewart Hamilton welcomes visitors.

Peterborough Architectural Conservation Advisory Committee celebrated its 40th Anniversary in October with an informal party held at the Peterborough Rugby Clubhouse.

The Rugby Clubhouse is the old Peterborough Lawn Bowling Club that was moved in sections to the north side of Nicholls Oval on Parkhill Road at Armour Road, a few years ago.

The house is a heritage building of the mid 1920's era architecture, and, everyone was delighted that the building was saved this way.

Past and present members of PACAC, the Doors Open subcommittee members and many of the public came to the informal party.

Martha Kydd was the first chair of PACAC and a strong support of Peterborough's built heritage and overall history.

She created a catalog of heritage buildings, some which have been saved, some lost as always, and, she was always promoting our heritage either by authoring books/pamphlets, or, making City Councils of that day aware of the need to save.

Between Mrs Kydd and Professor Dr. Chris Greene's urging, "The Avenues" in the west end finally became Peterborough's first heritage district. Composed of the northside of Charlotte Street to the south side of Bolivar, from the west side of Park to the east side of Monaghan; "The Avenues" became one of the first of what we now call subdivisions.

2. Update on Uxbridge OMB Appeal
Jennifer Welch

The OMB Hearing for the Gould Estate wrapped up on Tuesday, November 16th. The hearing lasted 6 days, and now the OMB Board Member will have to make a decision whether to approve or not approve the Zoning By-law Amendment and Settlement Concept Plan (26 units plus relocated heritage house). We are not sure when this decision will be made. We will send out an email when we are notified of the decision.

We are opposed to this zoning by-law and the settlement plan as they are not good planning, not in the public interest and are not good heritage conservation.

If you have any questions about this case, please feel free to send us an email.

Please let me know if you do not wish to receive any further emails, and I will update our email distribution list.

Sincerely,
Jennifer Welch
Uxbridge Gouldville Citizens Association
www.uxbridgegouldville.ca

3. Consultations on Ontario's Culture Strategy

Dear culture stakeholders,

As you’re aware, the Ontario government is currently holding public consultations to develop Ontario's first Culture Strategy.  The strategy will set out a vision for culture in the province and guide government support to the sector in the years to come.

This is also the first time we’re consulting with Ontarians on the value of arts and culture in their lives and communities.   Our goal is to reach as many people as possible.

Earlier this fall, I asked that you participate in the consultations and I’m pleased to report that many of our culture stakeholders have responded to the call.   

Our town halls are standing room only with engaged and passionate people discussing the importance of arts and culture in Ontario and their vision for the future.

[Please note, the date and location of the Toronto town hall has changed.   The consultation will be held on Monday, November 23 from 7 – 9.30 p.m. at the Toronto Reference Library, Bram and Bluma Appel Salon].  

Public engagement on social media is strong, with many positive comments about the consultations and posts from the town halls.  

We need more.   We want to ensure that as many voices as possible are heard so that the culture strategy reflects the diverse needs of Ontarians.

In October, we developed a social media toolkit to help you share information about the Culture Talks.   We’ve updated the toolkit to include additional images and sample posts for Twitter and Facebook.   You can access it here,

If you haven’t had an opportunity to participate in the consultations, I encourage you to do so.   

Consultation efforts include an online forum where people can share their thoughts about arts and culture, a discussion paper to generate more detailed comments and 11 town halls in communities across the province. All input must be submitted by December 7, 2015.    

If you have participated, thank you!   I encourage you to continue to promote Culture Talks consultations using any traditional or social means you find appropriate.  

As a culture stakeholder, you play an essential role in the success of our culture consultations.    

A live webcast will be available for Ontarians across the province to participate in the Windsor town hall. You can access the webcast from the Culture Talks website under ‘Town Hall Dates and Locations’ a few days before the event.  

I look forward to your participation.

Sincerely,

Kevin Finnerty

Assistant Deputy Minister, Culture Division

Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport

Editor's Note:
Heritage gets extremely short shrift, so please attend the hearings in your community and talk about conservation as a cultural activity, preserving intangible and tangible heritage, and the places that attract the arts.

4. RAIC Statement on 24 Sussex Drive
Royal Architectural Institute of Canada

24 Sussex Drive

The Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) is pleased that the condition and future of the Prime Minister’s Official Residence at 24 Sussex Drive in Ottawa is finally receiving much-needed attention.

The RAIC, which advocates for excellence in the built environment, lauds Prime Minister-designate Justin Trudeau for postponing his occupancy to give priority to the state of the “people’s house” for the benefit of all Canadians.

“We believe Mr. Trudeau deserves credit for recognizing that the house belongs to the people of Canada and, as such, its economic value and value as a symbol of Canada cannot be allowed to deteriorate further,” says RAIC President Sam Oboh, FRAIC. “We also thank the Governor General of Canada for making available to the incoming Prime Minister a house normally occupied by his Secretary.”

The National Capital Commission (NCC) has done a good job of systematically upgrading and maintaining the official residences of Canada. Unfortunately, it has not been granted access to 24 Sussex Drive to do more than cosmetic repairs, resulting in the need now for a total overhaul. The RAIC supports the responsible approach of the NCC in seeking professional advice from its Advisory Committee on Official Residences of Canada, comprised of architects and experts in heritage, interior design, and real estate development.

The RAIC recommends a thorough assessment of the property to ascertain its capacity to meet the operational, functional and programmatic needs of a prime ministerial residence in the 21st century. Recognizing that the NCC has architects, including a Chief Architect, and other professionals on staff, the members of the RAIC stand ready and willing to contribute in any way they can.

In terms of sustainability, the history of the house, and its status as a federal heritage building, the RAIC recognizes that the first choice would be to rehabilitate the building if feasible. “Rehabilitation of a 19th-century deteriorated building into a more comfortable, efficient, safe and welcoming building is well within the realm of possibility with thoughtful design led by architects,” says RAIC vice-president Allan Teramura, FRAIC.

However, if rehabilitation proves to be unfeasible, “a purpose-built residence for Canada’s Prime Minister creates an opportunity to hold an architectural competition and demonstrate the best of Canadian design, innovation, energy efficiency and craftsmanship,” says Mr. Oboh. “As demolition is likely not justifiable, a different site in the capital would be required for a new residence.”

5. Globe and Mail: Opinion 24 Sussex Drive
Benjamin Shinewald

24 Sussex is a national treasure that should be restored, not demolished

Everyone agrees that 24 Sussex Drive is a shambles, but no one agrees on what should be done with the place. From selling it to demolishing it, renovating it to rebuilding it, the ideas circulating speak to widespread public illiteracy with respect to the most basic elements of property management.

Consider how we got here. For decades, it has become an article of faith for Canadian prime ministers to brag about how cheap they were when it came to the official residence. Prime minister after prime minister refused to maintain, much less invest in, the mansion also known by its Welsh name, Gorffwysfa.

The results are as predictable as they are embarrassing. Canada’s most famous residence is filled with knob-and-tube wiring, largely inaccessible to the disabled and full of asbestos. Who can blame our new Prime Minister – particularly given his young children – for choosing to live across the street at Rideau Cottage, a residence that at least has fire sprinklers? Would you rent a home in such a sorry state?

Editor's Note:
The argument mirrors many made by preservationists....interesting!

Click here for Link

6. Globe and Mail: The 24 Sussex Debate
John Lorinc

24 Sussex: What a totally sustainable reno should look like

Unlike the vast majority of families who move into new digs, Justin Trudeau and his wife, Sophie Grégoire, almost certainly didn’t get a home inspection in anticipation of taking possession of the house that comes with the job.

But the prime-minister-designate, who was sworn in Wednesday, is already receiving all sorts of advice about what to do about 24 Sussex Dr., the stately but long-neglected 1867 mansion that will soon become his home (again).

The environmentally conscious Mr. Trudeau is poised to take a large delegation of premiers to the Paris climate conference, and some observers are urging him not to think of 24 Sussex just as a notorious fixer-upper, but also as something of a showcase for the Liberal government’s new-found commitment to sustainability.

According to Toronto architect Brigitte Shim, 24 Sussex plays a powerful symbolic role. “We can’t just see it as a house. It’s more than real estate.”

So in the spirit of a thousand home-improvement shows, The Globe and Mail canvassed experts in heritage and sustainable design for their ideas. There was no shortage of suggestions – everything from renewable-energy retrofits to fresh ways of thinking about the building’s cultural sustainability and its social mandate. And also this: Justin, Sophie, we love your kids, but lose the lawn. There are far greener ways to landscape than with Kentucky bluegrass.

Energy

According to some reports, 24 Sussex’s annual energy bill is almost $70,000 – a staggering sum that suggests the building is leaking a prodigious amount of heat and cooling, probably because of poor or non-existent insulation and single-pane windows.

Paul Dowsett, principal architect at Sustainable.to, a Toronto firm that specializes in sustainable renovations of heritage buildings, says the way to sharply lower that cost is to take a 3R (reduce, reuse, recycle) approach to energy retrofits. The firm undertook a similar project on the Daniels Residence, a majestic 9,000-square-foot art-deco home built for former Maple Leafs owner Conn Smythe, which, by the time Dowsett got to it, had similar problems, including windows that barely closed. “They weren’t doing anything but keeping out the large animals,” he recalls.

Click here for Link

7. Globe and Mail: Victims of Communism Monument
Canadian Press

Controversial communism monument

Editor's Note:
The building proposed for the site was the Pierre Elliot Trudeau Judicial building, it is already designed but was set aside by the Harper Government. In spite of Trudeau's contributions of the Charter and his role as a reforming justice Minister, it would be the only building on that side of Wellington named for a political figure. Just saying...

Click here for Link

8. Globe and Mail: Editorial asking for Review of Conservative Monument Programs

Whose Mother would this monstrous monument be?

Stephen Harper was passionate about Canadian history. But his government also understood how it could be used to serve political ends.

With the change in government, it is time to reassess two prospective historical monuments that the Harper government promoted with a zeal that overrode proper public scrutiny.

The first is the controversial Memorial to the Victims of Communism, planned for a prime piece of Ottawa’s parliamentary real estate near the Supreme Court of Canada – a site long designated for a new Federal Court building.

Editor's Note:
I'm pretty sure that the Pierre Elliot Trudeau Judicial Building will be built now! Just saying..

Click here for Link

9. Urban Toronto: Interview with John Sewell

John Sewell Talks City Affairs and 'How We Changed Toronto'

John Sewell, Mayor of Toronto from 1978 to 1980, recalls a time when citizen-led groups had real political sway on matters that shaped the way the city developed. Now, he says, a dysfunctional Council and a lack of proper public engagement is crippling Toronto land use planning. Sewell outlines his battles against uncontrolled urban renewal, sprawl and the demolition of heritage structures in his new book titled How We Changed Toronto: The Inside Story of Twelve Creative, Tumultuous Years In Civic Life, 1968-1980. 

As Toronto grew in importance, overtaking Montreal as Canada's most populous city, an array of housing and infrastructure projects promised to change the cityscape forever. City Council generally saw this as a positive, often supporting the demolition of entire neighbourhoods in favour of new structures. Sewell sought to change Council's mindset in the 1960s by bringing together a strong group of concerned residents. He joined the Trefann Court Urban Renewal Area in a bid to stop the demolition of the east downtown neighbourhood. Proposed to be replaced by a series of high-rise housing projects, the Trefann Court fight was a sign of the times. After an intense wrangling, the City cancelled its plans to demolish the neighbourhood. It was the first major win for the reform movement that swept Toronto in the 1970's.

Click here for Link

10. Under the Gardiner Website

WHAT IS THIS PROJECT?

There is a 1.75 km stretch of possibility in our city that is hidden in plain sight. We are about to transform a once forgotten space into vibrant common ground. Project: Under Gardiner will bring communities together, connecting every neighbourhood that it touches.

This continuous passageway from Strachan Avenue to Spadina Avenue is where creativity overlaps with everyday life. Under the Gardiner will soon become an open-ended story and constantly evolving space that is home to a variety of activity — from farmer's markets, children's gardens and community gatherings to performances and exhibition halls. Along this urban trail, visitors and commuters will encounter a series of 55 outdoor civic 'rooms' formed by the Gardiner's structure of columns and beams (also known as bents).

This is a legacy project that will empower communities to grow and inspire each other. With a new east-west corridor that runs deep into the city, seven neighbourhoods will be connected to new and existing parks, open spaces as well as improving access to destinations such as BMO Field, the revitalized waterfront, the Harbourfront Centre, Ripley's Aquarium, and the CN Tower. The space's footprint crosses more than 70,000 residents across Exhibition Place, Liberty Village, Fort York, Niagara, Wellington Place, Bathurst Quay and City Place.

Project: Under Gardiner is set to open in 2017.

PRELIMINARY FRAMEWORK MAP

Editor's Note:
Very clever presentation from the proponents. This is a space that Friends of Fort York and dtah have long been dreaming about in many successive plans, wonderful to see this initiative taking shape. THANKS JUDY

Click here for Link

11. Toronto Star: The Davenportage
Shawn Micaleff

“Why we do it is a mystery,” says Nicholas Brinckman. “There is no reason to walk across the city carrying a canoe on your back. It’s madness.”

On Nov. 15, Brinckman and others will be doing just that for an event they call the Davenportage, a 17-kilometre portage between the Humber and Don Rivers.

The bulk of their route follows Davenport, one of Toronto’s oldest roads that roughly traces an even older First Nations trail called Gete-Onigaming, or “the old portage.”

Davenport also passes south of the shoreline of ancient Lake Iroquois, the former expanded glacial version of Lake Ontario, today a prominent escarpment running across the middle of Toronto between Davenport and St. Clair that is the bane of all north-peddling cyclists.

Brinckman and a few other colleagues were working together in a shared office in Yorkville when they came up with the idea to do a long walk that both explored the city and honoured some of its history.

“It’s a profound way to be in the city,” he says. “It made me feel more connected to this place.”

The first Davenportage was last year with a handful of guys.

“We thought we could have some fun and bring some attention to the trail,” says Michael Bumby, one of the co-founders.

“We first planned to just carry some heavy stuff in sacks, like potatoes or seed, the canoe came later. People were saying, ‘you guys are crazy,” so we thought, ‘OK, we’ll add the canoe.’ ”

Click here for Link

12. Toronto Star: Demolition of Important Mid Century School
Louise Brown

Davisville one of 30 schools to be rebuilt under $500M Ontario plan

Davisville Junior Public School is one of 30 schools slated to be rebuilt under a $500 million Ontario plan unveiled on Monday.

Plagued by years of leaky ceilings and crammed classrooms, Toronto’s Davisville Junior Public School will get a $14.7 million rebuild that the neighbourhood hopes will become part of a larger community hub to be used by everyone from babies to seniors, all under the same sprawling new roof.

Davisville is one of 30 schools across Ontario to receive funds for complete rebuilds Monday under a $498 million provincial capital funding announcement. Some 26 more schools landed money for additions and renovations, and the money will also create 122 new child care rooms with 1,235 new licensed spaces in schools.

“The funding will allow Davisville to be totally rebuilt into a modern state-of-the-art school, with enough space for up to 728 students (up from its current 525) so students won’t be so squashed,” said Education Minister Liz Sandals, who made the announcement with local St. Paul’s MPP Eric Hoskins.

For Davisville principal Shona Farrelly, it will mean today’s classes of 20-plus students no longer will have to be squeezed “really, really tightly” into 16 classrooms originally built for small clusters of deaf students in the 50-year-old building near Yonge St. and Davisville Ave.

Before you go to the rest of the Toronto Star Article, here's the link to the listing for this property on TOBuilt, at ACOToronto.ca 

Editor's Note:
Not sure how to get the message that the greenest building is the one we already have. This is an amazing building, designed by the remarkable Peter Pennington, needing TLC not demolition. Shocking to see provincial dollars being spent to destroy rather than restore.....This situation haunts us from some bad funding and analysis standards adopted during the Harris government and haven't been addressed by the Liberals, which favor demolition over conservation.

Click here for Link

13. The Globe and Mail: The bridge to Fort York
Alex Bozikovic

Fort York bridge will help Toronto progress into a more walkable future

Soon, Fort York will be a bit easier to invade. As of 2017, the historic downtown site will welcome visitors with a new pedestrian bridge over the neighbouring rail lines.

It is a project that Rob Ford, as mayor, tried to kill in 2011. Now it will move ahead, and if you are looking for a metaphor for the state of Toronto’s public realm, here it is: The bridge, when finished, will be five years late, and its budget and design ambition have been hacked back, but it will be built. And it will tie together a network of parks and open space in a fast-changing district, permanently altering Torontonians’ mental map of their city.

Mayor John Tory is scheduled to join local councillor Mike Layton on Tuesday morning to name the project’s team, led by Dufferin Construction, the bridge-engineering firm Pedelta and Toronto landscape architects DTAH.

The $19.7-million project is scheduled to start in the spring and be completed in a year. It will allow cyclists and pedestrians to reach the northwest corner of the fort site, which is at Bathurst and Front Streets, from a pair of new parks under construction in the Niagara neighbourhood and Liberty Village.

And it will link up to the Under Gardiner, the new public space the city announced last week.

The bridge will bring new life to the fort, a National Historic Site that has long been hemmed in by rail lines, the Gardiner Expressway, industry and now condo towers. “It will probably double the traffic we get,” says Stephen Otto, a co-founder of the Friends of Fort York and a tireless advocate for the fort. “All of a sudden, the whole system of streets and neighbourhoods north of us will be opened up.”

Editor's Note:
In 1994 the Friends of Fort York were founded. At the time linking the fort to the north, south, east and west were identified as important objectives. The analysis was led by Robert Allsopp of dtah on a volunteer basis. Then the fort was lost in a sea of industrial lands without any public face. This week, with the exception of the park to the east, we see the last of the items he identified to bring "visibility, accessibility and dignity" to the Fort falling into place. But the process has been far from sudden. FOFY has been remarkably prescient and persistent over those twenty years. Once the bridge is in place, can the park and the redevelopment of the Destructor site as a cultural institution be far behind?

Click here for Link

14. Jeffery Stinson Architect: New Book
David Sisam

Jeffery Stinson Architect: Building, Drawing, Teaching, Writing

The new book on Jeffery Stinson can be purchased at the link below:

Click here for Link

15. Beach Mirror: Residents Work To Save Historic Building
Joanna Lavoie

Residents work to save historic Leslieville building

The Leslieville Historical Society (LHS) has embarked on its first major preservation challenge: saving 887 Queen St. E. at Logan Avenue  one of Leslievilles oldest commercial buildings  from demolition.

The property in question, also known as the Burgess Building, is not included in the plans for a seven-storey, 118-unit condominium on the site that will house the Red Door Family Shelter at 875 Queen St. E.
Shiralee Hudson Hill and her husband Matthew Hill live just down the street from the circa 1888 edifice, whose current main-floor tenant is Woodgreen Discount Drugs.

With the support of the LHS, the couple are leading the charge to save 887 Queen St. E., the communitys first medical building.

Hudson Hill said she and her husband, both LHS members, noticed in March that the Burgess Building seemed to be obscured in renderings for the redevelopment of the neighbouring 875 Queen. Upon further inquiry, they learned retaining 887 Queen wasnt part of Harhay Constructions plans.

I was just baffled, said Hudson Hill, pointing to the July 2014 Leslieville Urban Design Guidelines, which called 887 Queen an historic property of note that warrants further study to determine if it merits heritage designation.
No one was talking about it because no one knew.

They contacted local historical societies with their concerns about the loss of the local landmark. The couple also reached out to Ward 30 Toronto-Danforth Councillor Paula Fletcher, who assured them shed look into the matter.

In early July, Hudson Hill and her husband crafted and distributed a two-page handout to those attending a public meeting about the imminent loss of 887 Queen. Titled Save Leslievilles Heritage!, the document called the Burgess Building a key part of the historic look and feel of our great neighbourhood and urged all in attendance to come together and save it.

Our goal was to bring this issue to the table. We want at least the façade retained on the new development, Hudson Hill said.

Its the only intact main intersection in Leslieville with historical buildings on all four sides. To lose one of these corners would be a huge detriment to the historical look and feel of Leslieville. (The Burgess Building) is part of what makes this community so special.

Admittedly in rough shape, the three-storey structure features a number of notable architectural features including moulded brick courses, pilasters, brackets, a variety of windows and a detailed cornice.

Its a diamond in the rough, said Hudson Hill. The building is in a state of disrepair, but its not an excuse to tear it down. Once these buildings are gone, theyre gone forever.

Hudson Hill said she realizes retaining 887 Queen will cost more than the developer estimated for the redevelopment project, but she said the investment is worth it.

On Oct. 16, the Leslieville Historical Society met with Harhay Construction and city staff as well as representatives from ERA Architects and the Red Door Family Shelter to discuss the future of 887 Queen. The LHS presented a heritage impact statement on the Burgess Building. The three-page document outlined 887 Queens contribution to Leslievilles built heritage as well as its history, cultural heritage value and character.

Harhay is now pricing the options in detail and is expected to send in a revised proposal to the LHS and Fletchers office.

The City of Torontos Heritage Preservation Services is also looking into whether it should explore giving the building a heritage designation, a legal status under the Ontario Heritage Act that would allow Toronto Council to refuse an application that would adversely affect a propertys heritage attributes.

Its still a work in progress, said Fletcher. That building is an important anchor at that corner and it needs to be incorporated into that development.

Fletcher also said shes happy the community is engaged maintaining historical buildings in this part of Leslieville, adding without the involvement of residents 887 Queen would surely be knocked down.

Theres still a lot thats being worked on here, Fletcher said, adding she doesnt expect the issue will be brought forward to council until early next year.

Anyone interested in learning more about the effort to save 887 Queen St. E. can emailsave887queen@gmail.com or join the Save 887 Queen Street East! Facebook group.

Supporters are also being asked to email Fletcher at councillor_fletcher@toronto.ca to tell her why they care about Leslievilles heritage and why they dont want historic buildings, like The Burgess Building, to be torn down.
The developer, Chris Harhay of Harhay Construction, did not respond to The Mirrors requests for comment by press time.

Editor's Note:
This was one of the buildings my late brother Carl Stryg hoped to own. But it was priced for redevelopment, not ongoing use.

Click here for Link

16. This Place Matters: New Crowd Funding Program from the National Trust for Canada
National Trust for Canada

Starting with the successful This Lighthouse Matters Program in Nova Scotia, The National Trust for Canada has launched a platform to assist community groups with crowd funding to conserve heritage buildings. Get your project on the list.

Click here for Link

17. Dan Schneider BlogSpot: Ontario Heritage Act in the Courts
Dan Schneider

The OHA: what the courts have to say (part three), or... Port Dalhousie blues

 This time it’s not the courts but that powerful court-like tribunal, the Ontario Municipal Board.

Editor's Note:
Watch Dan's Space

Click here for Link

18. Chatham Daily News: Moving the Sicklesteel-Newkirk House
Ellwood Shreve

New home for Sicklesteel-Newkirk house

A piece of Chatham-Kent's history has been moved to a new location.

Continental Building Movers Ltd., from Melbourne, just west of London, and Hydro One, worked together on Tuesday to move the Sicklesteel-Newkirk property from its original location at 9722 Longwoods Road to its new location at 8800 Talbot Trail, between Blenheim and Cedar Springs.

The building, which was constructed by David Sicklesteel in 1880 and operated as an inn, was destined for demolition if someone didn't want to take the home from previous owners Keith and Karn Graham.

Earlier this year, Chatham-Kent council faced some pressure from the municipal heritage committee to put a heritage designation on the property, citing its historical significance as an important residential property. It was also once owned by the Newkirk family, one of Kent County's earliest pioneer families and later served as the residence of former Chatham mayor Garnet Newkirk. It is also a rare surviving early 19th century Ontario Inn and Tavern.

And that’s where Don Thompson comes in.

A desire to preserve a piece of local history is what motivated Thompson to take on this project to move the home.

“The initial plan was just to save it,” he told The Chatham Daily News as he watched the historic home arrive at its new location. “I didn't want it to get destroyed.”

Thompson’s dream is to restore the building and refurnish to give people a chance to see it.

However, financing this dream is where reality comes in.

“Everything's on a shoestring,” Thompson said.

He is planning to get to work on the home in the spring with the goal of totally securing the outside of the building, which includes putting the roof back on, putting in a new foundation and getting the windows up to snuff.

Click here for Link

19. Baptist News: Church Activities and Church Buildings

Steeples and Millennials  does church architecture matter? - See more at: https://baptistnews.com/ministry/congregations/item/30625-pastors-contemplate-can-steeples-and-millennials-mix#sthash.oAEFjt0h.dpuf

Steeples and Millennials — does church architecture matter?
Efforts to abandon historic church architecture in favor of something more generic in order to attract younger worshipers may be short-sighted, say some ministers.

By Jeff Brumley

Chris Aho knows a thing or two about worshiping in contemporary spaces, like churches which meet in theaters, schools or former retail spaces.

“There is a sense of young churches trying to take away all the symbolism that was baggage for people, to make it generic,” said Aho, pastor at Oxford Baptist Church in Oxford, N.C.

But sometimes newer generations arrive who don’t want their worship spaces to resemble the malls and movie theaters and big-box stores they frequent the rest of the week, Aho said.

“There are people longing for tangible symbols now like they weren’t 25 to 30 years ago.”

ChrisAho
Chris Aho
That’s also part of the reason First Baptist Church in Athens, Texas, recently installed a steeple on its building where one had never stood before, a minister there said.

And church historians and coaches say that while the steeple and other Christian symbols have ebbed and flowed throughout church history, the presence of traditional structures is by no means the death knell of efforts to appeal to Millennials and other young Americans.

“My hope is that future generations will see traditional architecture is very different because we do something very different” in the church, Aho said.

- See more at: https://baptistnews.com/ministry/congregations/item/30625-pastors-contemplate-can-steeples-and-millennials-mix#sthash.oAEFjt0h.dpuf

Editor's Note:
Maybe we'll see fewer church buildings being scrapped

Click here for Link

20. Globe and Mail (Business)--Re-use of Historic Lobbies
Paul Attfield

Historic lobbies live on

There was a time when Canada’s largest city wasn’t a cluster of soaring glass towers, when buildings were made of stone masonry and didn’t block out the sunlight.

Toronto wasn’t this country’s biggest city then – that honour fell to Montreal – but as the banking industry and other economic drivers slowly shifted west to the Ontario capital, an eventual surge in population fuelled the need for dense residential solutions. With almost 100 high-rise developments under construction in the city – the most of any North American centre save for New York – that demand is showing no sign of waning.

But in the midst of all the glass-and-steel corridors that have been built, there remain little reminders of the city’s history, and opportunities arise to merge old with new. Some of yesterday’s grand entrances and lobbies, for example, have been retained within modern residential projects. Places like the old Imperial Oil corporate headquarters at Yonge Street and St. Clair Avenue and a former branch of Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce at Yonge and Queen streets live on with a new surround.

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21. Globe and Mail: Great addition on a heritage building
Dave Le Blanc

Art Moderne landmark in Hamilton gets updated for modern life

In the early 1900s, it was the automobile. The luxury ocean liner took the teens, twenties and thirties. The forties and fifties were ruled by the propeller plane and the jet, and, in the 1960s, it was the rocket ship.

Until the 1970s, when these were traded for the bicycle, we embraced newness, technology and speed; there’s a reason that little red wagon was called “Radio Flyer.”

Architects were not immune. In 1939, Coca-Cola built a spectacular Los Angeles Art Moderne plant with so many portholes, speed-stripes, curved walls and nautical railings it seemed like a place sailors should work rather than soda-pop executives. The same year, on the other side of the continent in Hamilton, a little house built for Jack Hambly on Longwood Road celebrated the seven seas also, but on a smaller scale.

(A. Marthouret / Revelateur Studio)
Sadly, this one-storey Westdale landmark, with its single porthole window, lone speed-stripe and one curved wall, had been left empty in the wet spring and humid summer of 2013. And that’s exactly when Lane Dunlop and Tina Fetner came aboard for a look-see.

“It was bad, it was cracked,” says Ms. Fetner of the home’s creamy exterior walls, “and when it rained, the water would get behind the stucco and it would be splotchy.” Not surprisingly, mould was everywhere.

For this boat, water was the enemy.

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22. Guardian:Threats to Edinburgh's World Heritage Status
Kevin McKenna

Edinburghs world heritage status in peril as developers move in

The formal recognition of Edinburgh as one of the world’s most beautiful cities is under threat amid a battle for the soul of its most historic quarter.

The city was inscribed as a Unesco world heritage site in 1995 for the beauty of its medieval old town and 18th-century new town but, following complaints from the public and architectural experts over a number of new buildings, inspectors from Icomos, the International Council on Monuments and Sites, which advises Unesco, have toured several of the most contentious sites.

Most of the concerns are focused on the east end of Princes Street, in the shadow of one of the city’s most famous landmarks, Calton Hill.

A 1973 concrete shopping mall, felt generally to be an eyesore, is finally to be demolished. But the planned replacement has caused alarm among many of long-suffering citizenry. More than 40,000 square metres of shopping space, along with private apartments, office blocks and a theatre is to be built. The centrepiece of this £850m development is a massive hotel which the developers would like to be regarded as a ribbon unwrapping a gift. Some local people, however, have bestowed on it the uncharitable appellation “the Turd”.

Editor's Note:
It is amazing just how often I meet someone who is doing great work in conservation or urbanism who trained in Edinburgh....it is an important place in so many ways, a place to see the extraordinary benefits of conservation and to experience a truly great city, areas that have grand plans and grew organically.

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23. The Economist: Questioning "Urban Renewal" in Korea

Moonrise kingdoms: After decades trying to get rid of slums, moves are now afoot to preserve them

FEW buildings in Seoul were left standing in 1953 after the Korean war had ravaged the city. Since then it has seen relentless construction. Office blocks were built on land cleared of slums, and traditional homes replaced by blocks of flats. The mayor, Park Won-soon, deplores this “reckless” development and wants to save what he can of Seoul’s heritage: historic buildings and also some shanty-towns.

One such is Baeksa village, which has clung to the flanks of Mount Buram since the 1960s. It was built by the first wave of Seoul’s displaced urban poor. Each family got a small plot of land and 200 bricks.

Over 2,000 people still live in the sloping streets of the village. Little has changed since 1967, when Lee Sang-ko arrived. Now in her 50s, she lives alone. One of her children has moved, as many do, to the city. Ms Lee’s house is made of cinder blocks and a corrugated-iron roof. She farms a small garden and shares an outdoor privy with neighbours.

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