15 June 2009
Heritage Legislation Not Protecting Buildings
Frederiction New Brunswick - The executive director
of the Canadian Heritage Foundation says Fredericton's York Street train station experience highlights the gaps in Canadian law that
should protect historic structures.
Natalie Bull said the point of the Heritage Railway Stations Protection Act should be to save railway buildings designated under the
law, not permit them to crumble away.
"The whole intent of the act was to keep buildings standing. From our perspective, what's really frustrating is that there's
clearly a huge flaw in that legislation that by not requiring even minimal maintenance, you basically put a building on the list and
then watch it fall apart," Bull said in an interview from Ottawa.
"If, in this country, we had a substantial tax incentive for rehabilitation like they do in the United States, a developer or the
current owner would have been interested in doing something with this building a long time ago."
The York Street train station is protected under the law, but its owners J.D. Irving Ltd., are under no legal obligation to maintain
the structure.
The property owners have repeatedly said they're prepared to restore the building if they can find a commercial development on the
surrounding downtown railway lands they own that would prime the financial pump to repair the building.
The structure has gone through engineering assessments and while its roof is collapsing, the brick work and foundation are sound. It
could take as much as $2 million to fix the building.
NB Liquor Corp., and Branch 4 of the Royal Canadian Legion, are communicating with the Irvings about possible uses for the building.
There's also word of a possible third interest.
"Ultimately, the gap is money," Bull said.
Last year, new legislation was created to protect federally owned lighthouses in Canada, but included in that law is a provision
requiring minimal maintenance, Bull said.
Fredericton Mayor Brad Woodside has said the deterioration of the York Street train station is unacceptable and if the latest round of
talks between private interests and J.D. Irving don't lead to a successful conclusion, it's time to get rid of what he calls an
eyesore in the city's downtown and tear it down.
That gets into different jurisdictions federally.
The Heritage Railway Stations Protection Act is administered by the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada under the auspices of
Parks Canada.
The board, which is made up of federal government appointees from across the country, advises the department.
Julie Dompierre, executive secretary of the board, said any request for demolition would have to come directly from the property
owner, not a third party such as a city government.
"It has to be the owner who files the request with the minister," Dompierre said.
"Parks Canada in consultation with our colleagues at Public Works and Government Services Canada would review the request and
make a recommendation to the minister (of Environment) on whether that should happen or not."
The federal environment minister is responsible for Parks Canada.
The environment minister would request an order-in-council of cabinet, which would have to be signed by the Governor
General.
"I should point out that it's highly unlikely that we would recommend demolition because, of course, our mandate is to preserve
and protect heritage buildings," Dompierre said.
Included in any demolition review process would be a 60-day public notification period and publication in public forums
of the request entitling the public to comment.
After that, there's a six-month period for Parks Canada to collect information and prepare a report.
Heather McLaughlin.
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