I would like to register my support for the heritage designation of properties at 60 Manitoba St and 47-49 Alice St in Ward 1.
I believe that the conservation of our cultural heritage is not just about protecting the “beautiful” buildings constructed by and for the wealthier members of society. It is about the places and objects that we as a community have inherited from the past and want to hand on to future generations. This includes the modest, vernacular buildings that reflect the social conditions of new immigrants and working class families.
These buildings may be small, but they are familiar and significant landmarks in the context of the Ward. They form part of a unified and consistent historic streetscape, with a unique local flavour. They have wonderful stories to tell about the lives of early immigrants to Canada, the ways that different groups of immigrants have negotiated the various forms of alienation that confront newcomers, and the contribution that ethnic communities have made to Guelph today. The original builders and residents may not have thought that they were “making history” – just living their lives – but for many of us living today, these reminders of the past inspire a sense of continuity and connectedness to our city and community.
In practice, places of heritage significance extend beyond the individual building to take in whole streets or whole neighbourhoods.
This is not therefore a question of creating “museums” in our midst, it is a question of good urban planning and design. I would suggest that the only way to address this issue squarely, as part of a comprehensive planning policy for the city, is to work towards designation of this small section of the Ward as a “heritage conservation district”. District designation could be used to articulate policies designed to preserve or enhance many aspects of character or appearance that define the area’s special interest, while allowing individual property owners the freedom to make interior and rear alternations to their properties.Over the past 80 years, governments and conservation authorities around the world have recognised the advantages to the designation of heritage conservation districts. These include:
– increased awareness and appreciation of an area’s heritage resources
– stabilised and/or increased property values. These may in turn lead to increased capital investment and expenditure on maintenance within a neighbourhood
– positive reinforcement of residents’ appreciation of neighbourhood, encouraging long-term residency and social stability
– an inclusive planning framework, where a local community’s heritage conservation objectives and stewardship will be respected during local planning decisionsIn the meantime, these two buildings are an integral part of the area and their preservation today is essential to retaining the distinctive identity of the area, with its compact, pedestrian-friendly scale, its historic layout, and its mixture of residential, commercial and industrial uses.
The objective of the planning system is to regulate the development and use of land in the public interest – this includes an obligation to reconcile the desire for economic growth, intensification, and individual property rights with the need to protect the historic and natural environment as part of the community’s cultural heritage and sense of identity. I hope that the “greater good” wins out today. LP