Heritage Properties of Ottawa & Gatineau

[rocketphish]

Ottawa boathouse competing for restoration cash
Ottawa New Edinburgh Club hopes national heritage-site contest can kickstart overhaul of historic building.

By: Ryan Tumilty, Metro
Published on Wed Jul 12 2017



A boathouse that has stood in the Ottawa River since 1923 could get some much-needed TLC.

The National Trust, an organization dedicated to preserving historic places, is running a contest dubbed “This Place Matters," which has organizations competing for votes online to get a piece of $220,000 in prize money to help restore historic buildings.

The Ottawa New Edinburgh Club’s boathouse is among the contenders.

Claire Schofield, the club’s marketing director, said the boathouse is from a whole other time and that the club wants to restore it to its former glory

“It was built to reflect the roaring 20s, so it has this massive ballroom at the top,” she said. “It used to be a big social centre for swing dancing and Scottish dancing.”

The club is hoping to use the contest funds to do exterior renovations, as part of a long-term plan to rejuvenate the space and open it up to the public.

“This would all be for exterior improvements: new windows, siding and painting to keep the weather from getting in.”

She said a lot of improvements need to be made and a cash infusion would get the ball rolling.

Natalie Bull, executive director of National Trust, said the contest is a unique approach, because not only can people vote online for the places they want to see restored but they can also contribute directly to those places.

She said they view it as an opportunity to help small organizations start large-scale fundraising.

“We’re really excited the way this competition is part of a new wave of philanthropy for heritage,” she said. “The groups are also we believe building their own capacity to become more financially successful in the future.”

http://www.metronews.ca/news/ottawa/2017...etiting-for-cash-restoration-prize-.html

[rocketphish]

Landowners don't buy city's sell job on heritage registry

Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen
Published on: July 13, 2017 | Last Updated: July 13, 2017 5:06 PM EDT


Dunton Tower is a landmark building at Carleton University and the city thinks it's important enough to include on its heritage registry.

Landowners aren’t buying the city’s argument that placing their homes on a special heritage list won’t impact their property values.

The city’s work building a heritage registry of important properties illustrates the struggle between respecting the hallmarks attached to Ottawa’s history and maintaining the rights of property owners.

There are 358 properties in Old Ottawa East and Old Ottawa South poised to be entered on the registry, whether their owners like it or not. City staff reviewed 3,152 properties in those communities to decide which ones should be recommended for the inventory.

The built-heritage subcommittee on Thursday voted in favour of recommending all 358 properties for entry on the heritage registry.

Council has made it a term priority to document properties that have some kind of cultural heritage value. The registry is part of the “heritage inventory project,” which required the city to hire two dedicated staff last year.

Properties on the heritage registry are impacted in only one way: the owners must notify the city within 60 days if they plan to demolish their buildings.

One fear is the city would quickly put together an application to formally protect the properties under provincial heritage laws, but Heritage Ottawa, a community advocacy group, says it would be unusual to rush a heritage designation over 60 days.

The city characterizes the project as way to go about documenting important and interesting buildings built before 1980 and outside an established heritage protection district.

It’s not a stepping stone to slapping properties with heritage protection, the city stresses.

But landowners aren’t taking the city’s word for it.

The Ottawa Archdiocese isn’t happy that the city wants to put a church at 152 Glenora St. on the registry. The church, which is currently home to a Spanish-language parish, doesn’t have the architectural value that would make it a candidate for the heritage registry, according to the archdiocese’s consultant, Julie Harris.

Harris said the church is one of thousands of churches in Canada, and dozens in Ottawa, of its kind. It’s simply not distinctive, she said.

Sheena Pritchard said she’s “astonished” by the city’s move to put her Echo Drive property on the heritage registry. She has lived in the home for more than 50 years and is afraid the registry entry would make it difficult for her family to sell one day.

It’s a similar concern voiced by other property owners; if the city puts the property on a registry, potential buyers could get spooked, driving down the market value of the land.

Mark Audcent, who co-owns a property on Concord Street North poised to be listed on the registry, is worried a buyer would lose interest in the land “if the developer thinks he has to fight city hall.”

City staff have no evidence to suggest an entry on the heritage registry affects a property’s value.

A few buildings at Carleton University made the list of recommendations for the registry, prompting one councillor alumnus, Scott Moffatt, to wonder how Dunton Tower qualified. Apparently the landmark building’s age, contribution to education and contemporary architectural style made it a registry candidate. Paterson Hall and the School of Architecture are also slated to be entered on the registry.

No one could convince the heritage subcommittee to remove a property from the proposed registry list.

Coun. Tobi Nussbaum, the chair of the heritage subcommittee, tried hard to emphasize the little impact to properties on the heritage registry, but he asked staff to make it crystal clear to residents during future hunts for registry candidates.

“You can never over-communicate what the implications of being on the heritage register are,” Nussbaum said.

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http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/landowners-dont-buy-citys-sell-job-on-heritage-registry

[rocketphish]

City proposes adding over 300 buildings to heritage register
As part of the Heritage Inventory Project, city staff are recommending that 358 buildings—or, roughly 11 per cent of Old Ottawa East and South—be added to the heritage register.

By: Kieran Delamont, Metro
Published on Sun Aug 20 2017

City staff are recommending that 358 buildings—or, roughly 11 per cent of Old Ottawa East and Ottawa South—be added to the heritage register.

Done as part of the Heritage Inventory Project, the 358 buildings in the two neighbourhoods, located on the land between the Rideau Canal and the Rideau River—are made up largely of turn-of-the-century era homes in Old Ottawa South.

In Old Ottawa East, four schools (Lady Evelyn Elementary, Immaculata High School, St. Nicholas’ Adult High School, and Riverside Montessori) are also being proposed as additions to the heritage register.

City staff note that, beyond the addition of architecturally significant homes in the area, that there are commercial buildings that merit addition. In particular, the staff report highlights the fact that there are “few remaining mixed-use traditional brick buildings” along Bank Street south of the canal, and notes the 1950s-era commercial character of Main Street in Old Ottawa East, near The Green Door Restaurant.

The city Planning Committee will receive, and likely approve, the list of proposed additions to the register at its meeting Tuesday morning.

The project comes as part of an ongoing effort on the city’s part to breathe a bit more life into its heritage building administration.

The Heritage Inventory Project is a city initiative that seeks to consolidate, and take stock of, the vast number of heritage properties in the Ottawa region.

Since amalgamation in 2001, the heritage register had fallen by the wayside, to a certain extent; one of amalgamation’s by-products was a single, combined heritage register that now has about 13,000 properties. As city staff note, this is not an especially robust or useful list: it is not publicly available, is rarely updated, and many of the buildings on it no longer exists.

The city set out to tackle this issue in early 2016, by forming the Heritage Inventory Project, with the stated goal of reviewing the city’s heritage assets.

Earlier this spring, the first stages of the project began rolling out, with the approved addition of buildings in Lowertown and Sandy Hill.

http://www.metronews.ca/news/ottawa/2017...-300-buildings-to-heritage-register.html

[rocketphish]

Carleton University scoffs at city's heritage registry recommendations

Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen
Published on: August 22, 2017 | Last Updated: August 22, 2017 12:29 PM EDT

When Carleton University heads found out three of its buildings are poised to land on a city heritage registry, they couldn’t comprehend how that could possibly happen.

Dunton Tower, Paterson Hall and the School of Architecture illustrate, according to city heritage staff, some kind of importance to Ottawa’s history.

For the university, it’s such a bizarre proposal that it sent one of its executives to council’s planning committee on Tuesday to express the institution’s wonderment.

Darryl Boyce, the assistant vice-president who oversees facilities and planning, said the school was surprised to see the three buildings show up as possible additions to the heritage registry, especially since there are already plans for the structures in the queue.

Carleton’s 2016 campus master plan talks about replacing Paterson Hall and adding a three-storey podium to Dunton Tower.

On its face, the city’s heritage registry is simply a list of properties that have some kind of interesting connection to Ottawa’s past. The properties on the list aren’t protected by heritage laws, and the information isn’t required to be put on a land title, but if owners want to demolish buildings on the registry they must provide a 60-day warning to city hall.

The city says the registry isn’t a step to protecting a property under heritage rules. Still, there’s that catch.

The main worry, which councillors recognize, is that the city might work to slap heritage designation on a property if it receives a demolition notice.

And if there are heritage restrictions on a property, the property value could be affected, especially for owners who are keen to sell the land for demolition and redevelopment.

The city has a goal during this term of council of examining properties that could meet the registry criteria and adding to the database. The study recently looked at Old Ottawa South and Old Ottawa East, resulting in staff recommending 358 properties be added to the registry, or about 11 per cent of properties that staff considered in those two communities.

Boyce watched as councillors batted around the implications for properties landing on the heritage registry before declaring his concern.

“The information I’ve heard here worries me more than I originally thought,” Boyce said, repeating that he sees no reasons for Carleton’s buildings to be plugged into the heritage registry.

Other landowners whose properties are on the proposed list of additions to the registry have also pleaded with the planning committee and built heritage subcommittee to reverse the staff recommendations.

The planning committee agreed with Coun. Tim Tierney to punt a decision to its Sept. 12 meeting while staff put together more information about the heritage registry and demolition requests.

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http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news...t-citys-heritage-registry-recommenations

[rocketphish]

Confusion slows heritage-register project
What exactly it means when your building gets added to the heritage register seemed unclear to both staff and councillors at Tuesday’s planning committee meeting.

By: Kieran Delamont, Metro
Published on Tue Aug 22 2017

The city's planning committee deferred the question of adding 358 properties to the heritage register on Tuesday after concerns were raised about what, exactly, it means to have a property added in the first place.

Several speakers at Tuesday’s committee meeting requested that, for one reason or another, their property be removed from the proposed list. This is not unusual: property owners who are already planning to demolish the buildings can request that their property not be removed, and the planning committee is within its bounds to amend the register accordingly.

What was significant about Tuesday’s meeting, however, is that requests to have properties removed revealed a deeper confusion among city staff and elected officials as to what the implications of a property being added to the register are.

Residents are being told that the only restriction the addition of their property to the heritage register carries with it is the requirement that you provide 60 days’ notice of your intent to demolish. City staff, however, noted that during that time, they review the file and can mull over the possibility of holding up the demolition — meaning that the notification process is, in effect, an application process.

Coun. Allan Hubley raised the concern that the city may be creating its own headaches.

“I’ve never heard anyone refer to it as a casual conversation,” he told committee. “It sounds to me like more of a process that we put people through.”

At the request of Coun. Tim Tierney, the planning committee opted to defer the matter to its next meeting, in September. While that happens, though, the list will continue to grow — something that had some on the committee concerned.

Committee chair Jan Harder expressed concerns that the number of properties that may get added might start to resemble “empire building” on the part of heritage staff.

“By the time we get across the entire city, are we going to have tens of thousands of buildings on this register?” Hubley asked.

http://www.metronews.ca/news/ottawa/2017/08/22/confusion-slows-heritage-register-project.html

[rocketphish]

Fight to save historic Stittsville barn headed to court
City of Ottawa alleges Richcraft Homes has failed to maintain Bradley-Craig barn

By Laura Osman , CBC News
Posted: Jan 16, 2018 5:00 AM ET Last Updated: Jan 16, 2018 10:02 AM ET



The City of Ottawa is taking Richcraft Homes to court, alleging the builder has neglected to make necessary repairs to a historic barn in the city's west end.

Two years ago Richcraft got permission from city council to deconstruct the 145-year-old Bradley-Craig barn in Stittsville and reassemble it at Saunders Farm, an agricultural tourism site in Munster. The developer plans to build box stores in its place.

But the plan, which sparked fury among some heritage advocates, appears to have fallen through. The permit granted by the city expires on Jan. 28, and Saunders Farm says it hasn't heard from the builder.

Now those same advocates fear the towering red barn is being left to fall into ruin.

The city is taking Richcraft to court over allegations the builder failed to make necessary repairs to the old barn.

The city filed a property standards order on March 10, 2017, but it was never followed, according to an emailed statement from Stuart Huxley, senior legal counsel for the city.

A charge issued under the Ontario Building Code Act is currently before the Ontario Court of Justice

Heritage Ottawa's David Flemming said the situation is a prime example of how the city lacks the teeth to protect heritage buildings from becoming derelict through neglect.

"There's no incentive," Flemming said.

Flemming said whatever fines the city can levy often fall well short of the actual cost of repairs.

"That's one of the things Heritage Ottawa is pushing for, to make it sting if [developers] do things like that," he said.

The Bradley-Craig barn is one of several vacant buildings monitored as part of a watch list that was launched by the mayor's task force on vacant buildings.

"It has been inspected by property standards and there have been orders issued to ensure that the property is secured and maintained," said Sally Coutts, a senior heritage planner for the city.

Coutts said the city can perform necessary work to the building and charge the owner for the repairs.

Marguerite Evans, a descendant of the family that built the barn, said the structure is significant for its architecture, but more importantly, it tells a story about the area.

The Hazeldean Road landmark stands sentry over one of the last standing farmsteads in an area that was once dominated by agriculture.

Evans, who fought the original relocation of the barn two years ago, said she would like to see the building re-purposed, but fears its days could be numbered.

"I have lot of concerns because I suspect that it has deteriorated," Evans said.

Richcraft still has 12 days to submit a plan to the city, then to carefully deconstruct and rebuild the barn in a new location, but that's unlikely to happen within such a short timeframe.

Richcraft refused to comment to questions from the CBC about its plans for the barn.

The builder has hired a lawyer to fight the city's assertion that the property hasn't been maintained. The next court date is Feb. 22.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/ottawa-richcraft-court-stittsville-barn-1.4487887

[rocketphish]

City decides former Lester B. Pearson home in Sandy Hill is not worth saving

Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen
Published on: February 1, 2018 | Last Updated: February 1, 2018 6:50 PM EST



A decrepit building in Sandy Hill once home to Lester B. Pearson isn’t worth saving, partly because it wasn’t important to the political career of the former prime minister, city heritage staff have decided.

The community association is disappointed and hopes municipal politicians will reverse the staff recommendation.

The two-storey, red-brick building is the Uganda High Commission, but the operations of the diplomatic mission haven’t been based out of 231 Cobourg St. since 2014 because the structure is unsafe.

The high commission wants to demolish the building and construct a new one on the land, but the city needs to approve the plan because the property is in a heritage conservation district.

City heritage staff agree that the building should be razed. They also support the proposed design for a new building. The recommendation was published on Thursday in a report to city council’s built-heritage subcommittee, which will discuss the property during a meeting next Thursday.

Action Sandy Hill first wrote to the city in spring 2017 opposing the demolition, pointing out the Pearson connection in arguing the building’s significance.

The Wilbrod/Laurier heritage conservation district plan says the community is important because it was home to many politicians and senior civil servants.

On Thursday, community association president Chad Rollins said the city should be protecting buildings in heritage conservation districts. He said heritage buildings don’t stand a chance if one of the arguments against keeping them is the cost.

“Rather than respecting its own policies and practices, city staff have bent over backwards to accommodate the desires of the Ugandan High Commission,” Rollins said.

There was brief skepticism over Pearson’s residency on the property until research and personal accounts confirmed he lived there for a brief period.

Pearson lived there between 1955 and 1958 when he was minister of external affairs. The time period is key; he won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1957, potentially giving greater importance to the building.

However, the house most associated with Pearson is on nearby Augusta Street. The house has heritage protection because of its association with Pearson. He lived there between 1947 and 1954.

City staff acknowledge Pearson’s historical importance, but they don’t see how it relates to 231 Cobourg St.

“He resided at 231 Cobourg St. for a relatively short time and the place is not explicitly and meaningfully associated or identified with his work as minister of external affairs,” a staff report says.

It’s not the original building on the property. It was constructed in 1945, replacing a nineteenth-century house. The high commission bought the property in 1985 for its diplomatic offices.

Journalists for this newspaper toured the building last summer. It was in terrible shape. Walls were cracked from building settlement. Basement floors were buckling. There was major water damage.

An engineer hired by the high commission’s architect suggested the owner should construct a new building suitable for the current ground conditions.

The high commission will need to get approvals this month from the built-heritage subcommittee, planning committee and city council before moving ahead with its redevelopment plan.



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http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news...n-home-in-sandy-hill-is-not-worth-saving

[Proof Sheet]

Originally Posted by rocketphish

[B]City decides former Lester B. Pearson home in Sandy Hill is not worth saving

On Thursday, community association president Chad Rollins said the city should be protecting buildings in heritage conservation districts. He said heritage buildings don’t stand a chance if one of the arguments against keeping them is the cost.

I realize that 'cost' is a term that can be bent and twisted to suit the different sides to this story but honestly is this really worth getting all misty eyed about. A former prime minister lived in the non-descript house for 3 years and the local community association is saying the costs of restoration don't matter. If the building is so important how about the local community association get a fundraising campaign going to buy the property. Yeah, that's going to get a lot of traction.

[rocketphish]

Oh geez... just tear it down already.

Heritage panel slams brakes on bid to demolish Lester B. Pearson's 1950s home

Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen
Published on: February 8, 2018 | Last Updated: February 8, 2018 2:33 PM EST

The city’s built-heritage subcommittee on Thursday turned down the Uganda High Commission’s application to demolish a Sandy Hill building that was once home to former prime minister Lester B. Pearson.

The subcommittee sent the file back to city heritage staff, instructing them to complete an independent engineering study on 231 Cobourg St.

Some subcommittee members were disappointed in city heritage staff for recommending the demolition without providing additional geotechnical documentation.

A lack of information is “a little bit of a theme this week, you could say,” according to Coun. Tobi Nussbaum, who chairs the subcommittee and who has also raised questions separately about the LRT construction contract.

The Uganda High Commission owns the property at 231 Cobourg St. It wants to tear the building down and build a modern three-storey building, keeping some of the historic design elements of the current structure, such as the flat roof and an octagonal window.

Pearson lived there between 1955 and 1958 when he was minister of external affairs. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1957 for proposing a United Nations peacekeeping operation during the Suez Crisis.

The building isn’t the original structure on the property. It took the place of a nineteenth-century house in 1945. The high commission bought the property in 1985 and used the building as its diplomatic office until 2014 when it was deemed unsafe.

The inside of the building is severely damaged.

Chad Rollins, president of the community group Action Sandy Hill, said the high commission has let the structure fall into disrepair.

“It’s a classic example of demolition through neglect,” Rollins told the subcommittee in his opposition to the demolition application.

Action Sandy Hill worked with historical research firm, Know History, to confirm that Pearson lived at the building in the 1950s.

Ryan Shackleton of Know History made a case that Pearson’s home on Cobourg Street could have played a role in his Nobel Peace Prize and other political work.

“That walk to work everyday, that’s where ideas could have been generated,” Shackleton told the subcommittee.

David Flemming of Heritage Ottawa agreed with Action Sandy Hill that the city shouldn’t let the the high commission tear down the building.

But Robert Martin, an architect who completed a heritage assessment for the high commission, said there’s no point renovating the building when there’s so much damage.

“Does it make sense to take heroic efforts for a marginal building?” Martin said.

Both Martin and the city’s heritage department didn’t see evidence to say the building was an important contribution to the neighbourhood’s history.

According to the city, only six people attended a public meeting on the high commission’s application, but all of them opposed demolition.

Coun. Mathieu Fleury, who represents the area, opposed the demolition application, calling on national and international groups to “respect the cultural history of our region.”

Subcommittee members asked pointed questions to the high commission’s architects about how the building was allowed to fall to shambles. The high commission didn’t do enough work to keep it from falling apart in the more than 30 years they owned it, the members said.

Barry Padolsky, the vice-chair of the subcommittee, said the arguments made by Action Sandy Hill and Heritage Ottawa are “quite formidable” as he proposed sending the application back to city staff. The subcommittee vote was unanimous.

A revised application, which could include a new design or a proposal to keep some of the existing building, is expected to come back to the subcommittee before May 9.

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http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news...to-demolish-lester-b-pearsons-1950s-home

[Proof Sheet]

Originally Posted by rocketphish

Oh geez... just tear it down already.

But, but, but '“That walk to work everyday, that’s where ideas could have been generated,” Shackleton told the subcommittee.

Unbelievable waste of everybody's time and money.

[roger1818]

Originally Posted by Proof Sheet

But, but, but '“That walk to work everyday, that’s where ideas could have been generated,” Shackleton told the subcommittee.

Unbelievable waste of everybody's time and money.

Ya. That line really stuck out in my mind as a bit of a stretch. If that is the best argument they have, they have nothing. Even if the ideas came from him walking to work, he could have been living anywhere within walking distance and come up with the same ideas. Its just crazy talk.

[J.OT13]

This might be more about fighting demolition by neglect than the actual building.

[roger1818]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

This might be more about fighting demolition by neglect than the actual building.

That is only an issue if it is designated a Heritage building. If it is, then it only acts as a distraction to the matter at hand. If it isn't, it is a weak argument to change its designation.

[rocketphish]

Independent engineer agrees former Lester B. Pearson home should be torn down

Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen
Published on: April 6, 2018 | Last Updated: April 6, 2018 11:29 AM EDT



Another engineer has confirmed that a Sandy Hill building once home to Lester B. Pearson should be torn down.

The city asked John G. Cooke and Associates to examine the building at 231 Cobourg St., along with the existing engineering reports on the property, after the built-heritage subcommittee expressed skepticism about a demolition-and-development plan pitched by the Ugandan High Commission. In February, the subcommittee rejected the application and directed staff to order an independent engineering analysis of the property.

The firm supports demolition, concluding that stabilizing the two-storey building is structurally feasible, but would come with significant costs. The soil settlement on the property has created major damage to the building.

City hall heritage planners continue to recommend allowing the demolition and a revised three-storey development plan from the Ugandan High Commission.

The existing building, which isn’t the original structure on the land, dates back to 1945. Pearson lived at 231 Cobourg St. between 1955 and 1958 when he was minister of external affairs. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1957 for proposing a United Nations peacekeeping operation during the Suez Crisis. Pearson became prime minister in 1963. The Ugandan High Commission bought the building in 1985.

The building is considered at the lower end on the scale of heritage importance. It wasn’t until recent years that the city learned it was one of Pearson’s former homes. Pearson’s better-known former home on Augusta Street, also in Sandy Hill, is protected by heritage laws because of his association.

Action Sandy Hill has opposed demolition of the Cobourg Street structure because of building’s historical value to the heritage conservation district.

The built-heritage subcommittee will consider the new demolition and redevelopment plan during a meeting Thursday.

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twitter.com/JonathanWilling

http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news...ester-b-pearson-home-should-be-torn-down

[rocketphish]

Planning committee recommends demolition of former Lester Pearson home

Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen
Published on: April 24, 2018 | Last Updated: April 24, 2018 2:22 PM EDT

The Ugandan High Commission should be allowed to demolish the former Sandy Hill home of Lester B. Pearson and construct a new office building, the planning committee decided Tuesday.

The committee, in a 9-1-vote, reversed a decision by the built-heritage subcommittee, whose members worried that by allowing demolition of 231 Cobourg St., the city would send the wrong message to owners of aging buildings in heritage districts. The built-heritage subcommittee, made up of councillors and citizens with heritage experience, voted 5-2 against demolition earlier this month.

On Tuesday, councillors saw little point holding up redevelopment on a property where the two-storey building is falling apart.

The high commission wants to replace it with a three-storey building designed by Ten-2-Four Architecture.

Pearson lived in the building between 1955 and 1958 when he was minister of external affairs. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1957.

Chad Rollins, president of the Action Sandy Hill community association, asked the planning committee to following the subcommittee’s recommendation and block the demolition. He unveiled a report by the auditor general in Uganda that says a consultant in 2013 recommended remedial work to the internal systems and the removal of trees to protect the building’s foundation, since the trees were sucking water out of the ground. By 2015, the work hadn’t been completed, even though there was $1 million made available for the fixes.

But Robert Martin, the consultant who completed the heritage assessment for the high commission, said he doesn’t think the money was earmarked for a building stabilization program.

There are foundation problems, the walls are cracking and there’s mould everywhere.

“The building is literally self-destructing,” Martin said.

David Jeanes, president of Heritage Ottawa, called on the Ugandan government to respect Canada’s heritage and asked Ottawa city councillors to save the building. The Wilbrod Laurier heritage conservation district’s importance is tied to an association with former prime ministers, Jeanes said.

However, the professional assessments by the high commission’s consultants, combined with an independent review commissioned by the city, were too convincing for councillors to ignore. The heritage value of the building isn’t enough to justify spending huge amounts for major repairs, the studies suggest. On top of that, the city’s own heritage experts have recommended council approve the high commission’s demolition and development plan.

Council will make a final decision on May 9.

<snip>

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http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news...demolition-of-former-lester-pearson-home

[rocketphish]

Finally some common sense.

[roger1818]

Originally Posted by rocketphish

Finally some common sense.

Agreed. I just don't see the need to save every house that every PM has ever lived in.

You have to love how by carefully composing a the picture, they can make the building look more "historic." Here is the picture in the news article above. They make it look almost like a cottage in the woods, with no other buildings nearby.



And here it is in street-view from a similar angle (note the apartment building behind it that was blocked out of the original picture).


(click it to see it in street-view)

[movebyleap]

One fairly ugly, nondescript building will now be replaced by another fairly ugly, nondescript building.

[roger1818]

Originally Posted by movebyleap

One fairly ugly, nondescript building will now be replaced by another fairly ugly, nondescript building.

Have you seen plans for the proposed replacement to validate that comment? Uganda may not be known for being lavish, but I would hope that they would want to make their embassy at least somewhat attractive. I could be proven wrong though.

[FutureWickedCity]

"Uganda may not be known for being lavish"