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UER Forum > Archived Canada: Ontario > A'burg historic site endangered (Amherstburg, ON) (Viewed 311 times)
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A'burg historic site endangered (Amherstburg, ON)
< on 7/8/2009 9:24 PM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
A'burg historic site endangered
A scandalous case of demolition by neglect, says Heritage Canada

Sharon Hill
The Windsor Star
Wednesday, July 08, 2009


The historic Bellevue House, which dates back to 1816, was named one of the country's top 10 endangered places Tuesday by the Heritage Canada Foundation.

The grand brick house at 525 Dalhousie St. in Amherstburg made the list as a "scandalous case of demolition by neglect." The empty house behind overgrown grass is one of the few examples left in Ontario of Georgian architecture and has links to the War of 1812.

It made the fifth annual endangered list along with Vancouver's Pantages Theatre and the David Dunlap Observatory and Park in Richmond Hill, Ont.

"There would be no Amherstburg without the fort and without this house," John McDonald, chairman of the Amherstburg heritage committee, said Tuesday.

The Bellevue House was built in 1816 to 1819 by Robert Reynolds, the commissary at Fort Malden, after he served in the War of 1812.

His sister Catherine Reynolds also lived there.

She was an artist and some of her works are in the collection of the Detroit Institute of Fine Arts.

The house became a national historic site in 1959 and received an Ontario Heritage Foundation plaque in 1962. Amherstburg designated the home under the Ontario Heritage Act in 1982.

McDonald said a couple of weeks ago the national plaque disappeared. There are fallen tree limbs and high grass and the building is empty and not heated. The fear is vandalism, fire or continued neglect will ruin the chances of restoring and using the building.

McDonald likened the Bellevue property to Windsor's Willistead Park. The house, that faces the Detroit River and includes waterfront property, sits on about eight acres of land.

"It's a jewel. We just haven't found a way to polish it yet."

The town issued orders to clean up the property Friday, said Jackie Hubbs, the town's manager of development services. Under the property standards bylaw, the town has ordered the owner to secure the house by boarding up windows and doors. That order could be appealed by July 22.

The other order under a yard maintenance bylaw to cut the grass and clean up branches and fallen tree limbs is not open to appeal. The owner has until July 15 to comply or the town has the right to do the work itself and bill the owner, she said.

"The town doesn't want to see the property looking the way it was," she said of its recent state.

The house is owned by a numbered company. The company's accountant Doug Sanborn said since the company acquired the building five years ago, it's been for sale. He said the company is looking to sell privately and there have been negotiations with people in the United States. He wouldn't give the asking price. "That was just an investment," he said of the site. "We weren't doing anything with the building."

In 1959 The Windsor Star ran a black and white photo with the caption: "No one wants historic house at $50,000."

But by 1963, the department of veterans affairs had acquired the house. After that it was owned by a Ukrainian Catholic Church.

Heritage Canada Foundation spokeswoman Carolyn Quinn said it would help if the grounds were cleaned but the building needs attention. She said boarding up doors and broken windows can keep out vandals but it will look derelict. "It's demolition by neglect."

Quinn said the town could force the property owner to maintain the building under the new Ontario Heritage Act.

Coun. John Sutton said he'd like to see the town work with the property owner to obtain grants.

"It's a rather dubious honour, but more so it's a call to action," Sutton said of the endangered listing.

Sutton said council did try to open discussions with the owner last year but didn't get a response.

Pat Malicki, president of the Windsor region branch of the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario, said a for sale sign on the property would show the owner is interested in selling.

She also wants to see the town use the Heritage Act and called the listing a wake-up call for council.

"Ironically, they are in the position to become another Niagara-on-the-Lake if they're smart about it, but they're tearing everything down."

WORST LOSSES

It's not the first time the local region has made the Top Ten Endangered List of the Heritage Canada Foundation. The church in St. Joachim made the list in 2005.

And last year, Windsor made the foundation's worst losses list for the Seagraves Building, a 1905 heritage building that was demolished.

http://www2.canada...c-149a7413e4fe&p=2

UER Forum > Archived Canada: Ontario > A'burg historic site endangered (Amherstburg, ON) (Viewed 311 times)



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