The following article appeared in the April 9 edition of the Guelph Mercury:
Where many see an old north-end farmhouse falling apart from years of neglect, Ian Findlay sees an opportunity.
The Ward 2 councillor has been heavily promoting his proposal to turn the dilapidated Wilson Farmhouse, on Simmonds Drive, into a demonstration centre for energy-efficient products and technologies.
The home, on parkland within a new subdivision, has been owned by the city since 2002 but has largely sat empty during that time. The city’s initial goal was to find a community use, but with renovation costs estimated at more than $300,000 the former city council voted in 2010 to pursue a heritage designation for the house and then sever the property and sell it.
This enraged neighbours, who said when they purchased their homes in the last couple of years they were told the farmhouse would be put into some kind of community use and there was never a mention of it becoming privately-owned.
Councillors voted last summer to reconsider the earlier motion to sell the home, though by a 7-6 margin reaffirmed their desire to see it designated under the Ontario Heritage Act.
Findlay said this weekend the house is recognized in the city’s Official Plan to have heritage value, with the recommendation it be put to community use.
“The city has been struggling with what to do with it,” Findlay said, noting there is no money in the 10-year capital forecast for renovations or ongoing operating costs. “Some of the neighbours are obviously concerned about the ongoing inactivity and neglect of the house.”
The councillor said at this point the three options would be to sell the property, to demolish the house and leave “ruins” and signage indicating the historical significance of the Wilson farm or to find an appropriate and affordable community use.
He has been focusing on this third option.
“I’d like to pull this project out of city hall and put it in the hands of the community,” Findlay said.
He envisions partnering with builders and suppliers to create a demonstration home – similar to one in Kitchener known as the REEP House – which would show off energy-efficient products and procedures specifically aimed at older homes.
“At this point we’re putting everything on the table,” Findlay said. “We may have solar on the roof, geo-thermal systems and so on.”
The goal would be to largely off-set the cost of renovations – estimated now at more than $500,000 – through these various partnerships, and also by making use of some city money already set aside for similar purposes.
For example, the city’s water department already has money in its budget to build a demonstration project.
“There will be some city involvement but we’re not looking at any new money,” the councillor said. “We would just be refocusing those dollars into this project.”
But the most vocal opponent of the farmhouse wonders if it’s worth the trouble.
“It’s one thing for Ian to say, ‘I’m going to save this house,’ and it’s noble and everything, but the question is is it really worth saving?” said neighbour Mike Lackowicz.
Lackowicz has challenged the city’s desire to have the home declared a heritage structure, suggesting there is little of the original farmhouse remaining and what is there has deteriorated so much from years of neglect by the city it would not be worth preserving.
A Conservation Review Board panel will convene in early June to consider Lackowicz’s challenge.
Lackowicz favours removing the house and leaving a “ruin” – perhaps one wall – with new trees and signage explaining the history of the site.
“That would be the nice, quiet, reflective space in the park,” he said, noting the city will move ahead this summer with creation of the Wilson Farm Park on the rest of the large parcel. This will include sports fields and a playground.
Lackowicz is also concerned the park, once completed, will draw many users from outside the quiet neighbourhood and he is concerned about a community use in the farmhouse which would similarly draw visitors from a wider area.
“There’s really not a heck of a lot they can do with that house, and what (Findlay) is talking about isn’t really a community use for our immediate community.”
But Findlay suggested the project could include an addition holding a large community room which would be available for meetings or community functions, possibly tied in to the park.
He said it could also hold offices which would be rented out to agencies or others to offset the annual operating costs.
“We have to look at all the possibilities and put everything on the table,” the councillor said.
Findlay said Lackowicz’s challenge to of the heritage designation “is not an obstacle either way.
“Whether it’s formally designated or not doesn’t change what we would like to do with this particular property,” Findlay said.