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Community : Bradford West Gwillimbury
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Description : Some days, it seems Toronto's built heritage is becoming, well, a thing of the past. A row of 19th-century houses on Charles St., just west of St. Thomas St., will soon be torn down to make way for a condo. Walnut Hall built in 1856 and the last standing row of Georgian townhouses on Shuter St., was demolished last year after decades of neglect led to bricks falling to the sidewalk. But there are also "wins" in the battle to preserve the city's past. The design studio of John Lyle, the man responsible for some of the city's most treasured early 20th-century architecture, including the Royal Alexandra Theatre, will get new life as part of the One Bedford condo on Bloor St. W. Fuelled by a strengthened Ontario Heritage Act, which in 2005 gave municipalities more control over historic buildings, saving the past has become an issue that appears to resonate with many Torontonians and a few developers. The heritage conservation district (HCD) is one weapon in the preservationists' arsenal. While the beefed-up Ontario Heritage Act is making it easier to preserve architectural heritage, Nasmith says more needs to be done before even more Toronto landmarks fall victim to the wrecking ball. Saving history is no easy task. For big urban developers, incorporating a piece of history into modern condo projects can mean costly delays and expensive restoration work. Trying to do the right thing can be costly. First, Fenton says, there's the time spent meeting with city officials and attending public meetings to face a roomful of often hostile residents. At the neighbourhood level, preserving the past can mean pitting neighbour against neighbour in a battle of property rights. Nasmith says there is a lot of misinformation about heritage conservation districts. One such fallacy is that this designation will lower property values because no one will want to buy a home bound by rules on what you can and cannot do. It's rare for homes designated under the Ontario Heritage Act to come on the market, says Royal LePage agent Jeff Derksen, because people who buy them do so because they appreciate their history, not because they want to flip a house. The design guidelines proposed for the Kingswood neighbourhood, if approved by residents and council, would ban the severing of lots. The 50-foot lot next to McMillan's 1898 home was severed and two homes constructed side-by-side - homes he feels are out of character for the neighbourhood and should not have been approved by the city. While some may find the rules governing designated properties burdensome, he says most people are more receptive once they hear about the city's incentive programs, such as the matching grants for homeowners to get as much as $10,000 for approved renovations to the exterior of their homes.
