Jul. 13, 2011 - Issue #821: The Beer Issue

Historic headache

Can Edmonton do more to preserve its heritage?

Gordon Harper is facing an uphill battle. The man behind the campaign to save the former Bank of Montreal building at the corner of 101 Street and Jasper Avenue strikes a balance between maintaining optimism while keeping his expectations low.
"I'm just hoping that the city can enter into a dialogue with GE and that GE can be persuaded of the value of the property," he says. He knows the odds are against him.
Edmonton doesn't have a particularly good track record when it comes to preserving historic buildings. The Heritage Canada Foundation is a national non-profit organization established by the federal government in 1993 to encourage the preservation of nationally significant historic, architectural, natural and scenic heritage.

Each year, the foundation issues a Top 10 Endangered Places list to bring national attention to sites at risk due to neglect, lack of funding, inappropriate development and weak legislation. They also issue a list of the nation's worst heritage site losses each year. We've made both in the past decade. In 2005, the Central Pentecostal Tabernacle Church at 116 Street and 107 Avenue was on the endangered list while Lessard House at 11936 - 100 Ave made it in 2006. Both buildings have been razed with condominiums put up in their places. Lessard House was on the 2006 list of the nation's worst heritage losses; the Arlington Apartments at 106 Street and 100 Avenue on 2009's list.
"Their hearts are in the right place and people in the planning department are attempting to do the right thing, but it seems the system is built in such a way that it makes it incredibly difficult," Heritage Canada spokeswoman Carolyn Quinn told the Edmonton Journal in 2009.

Edmonton's historic resources management program provides incentives to encourage the restoration and rehabilitation of historic resources. In order to qualify for designation as a municipal historic resource, the building must first be listed on the inventory of historic resources.
"Once it is designated a municipal historic resource, the property is protected from demolition and inappropriate alterations through a bylaw," explains David Holdworth, one of two principal heritage planners with the city. Owners are eligible for a variety of financial incentives to renovate the property while preserving its heritage. While properties on the inventory have no such protection or access to funds, city planners are happy to work with owners who are seeking the higher designation.
Because provincial legislation requires that compensation be made to the owner of the site or building when a heritage designation is made by the municipality, it is very rare that the designation process doesn't start with the owner of the property. And even that is sometimes not enough, as the case of the Arlington Apartments made very clear.

The five-storey, red-brick structure on the corner of 106 Street and 100 Avenue was a prestigious address when it was built in 1909. The first apartment building in Edmonton, it was grandly decorated with a pressed metal cornice along the roof's edge, scrolled eave brackets, a recessed arch doorway and wooden sash windows on the front and rear facades. The property was allowed to slide into disrepair from around the 1970s until 1995, when it was granted provincial historical designation. Municipal designation followed in 1998, with the city and province providing $375 000 and $147 000, respectively, in grants to the owner for renovations. That fall, Capital Health declared the building unfit for habitation and tenants were told to leave because the heating system was broken. Although the system was repaired before the tenants had to vacate, problems continued and tenants received multiple judgments in court against the owner.

On April 5, 2005, the building was destroyed by arson. Nobody has ever been charged with the crime. The city and the property owner battled about salvaging the building's original facade for years and by 2008 the building had deteriorated so much the city declared the Arlington a safety hazard that had to be demolished. The Arlington experience did prove educational, if nothing else.
"There is now a maintenance clause put in place for every property on the Register," says Holdsworth. Such a clause may have averted many of the Arlington's pre-fire woes.

The Edmonton historical board advises city council on heritage and preservation issues. The board includes citizens appointed by council and representatives from the Northern Alberta Pioneers and Descendant's Association and the Edmonton and District Historical Society. Martin Kennedy is the board's vice chair. He acknowledges there are systemic hurdles in fights to save a building. Asked if a change to provincial legislation might bolster the city's ability to preserve our heritage buildings, he isn't so sure.

"There's always going to be a problem when you're designating a building against an owner's wishes," he explains. "There's a very small pool of developers who are committed to heritage preservation. What we really need to do is grow that pool."
 

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