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From the President

From the President….
 
Summer has been a busy time for Heritage Ottawa, and we are looking forward to an equally busy fall and winter. Our walking tours have gone well throughout the summer and into the fall, and are once again very popular events. The lecture series is well underway and attendance at our first lecture was excellent. And we have a slate of new initiatives that will enhance the work we do for you and for heritage in Ottawa.
 
As you know, a membership survey was undertaken over the summer, ably managed by Nancy Oakley, who is reporting on the survey in this Newsletter. It was time to “take the temperature” of Heritage Ottawa, to get a better understanding of our members, their interests and expectations. Thank you to everyone who filled out the form and sent it or emailed it in; we had a very good rate of response, and have developed several go-forwards for both the short and long term.
 
Our publications programme has revived, and there are two existing publications in the works, overseen by the publications committee, consisting of Rick Belliveau, Heather Perrault, and myself. The publications will be a walking tour guide to the Glebe, by former board member and Glebe resident John McLeod; and a profile of prominent Ottawa architect Werner Ernst Noffke, by architectural historian Shannon Ricketts. We expect to have these publications available soon.
 
Mark your calendars for April, 2012. That month marks the 60th anniversary of the expropriations at LeBreton Flats, an event whose consequences mark the city to this day. Anniversary events are being planned now, and will likely include a lecture or symposium and exhibition plus online information, among other activities. Nancy Oakley has put together a team to shepherd this anniversary celebration (is celebration the right word for such a disastrous approach to urban planning?), and we are looking forward to seeing what emerges.
 
Advocacy issues don’t go away, do they? While Heritage Ottawa won its challenge at the Conservation Review Board for the Horticulture Building to remain in place, the City has overruled the CRB recommendation and repealed the heritage designation of the building with the intention of moving it. The City has promised to rehabilitate the Horticulture Building in its new location, and at this point we can only hope that they will follow through with that commitment. It would be a sign of their good intentions if the City were to enter into a heritage conservation easement with the Ontario Heritage Trust, which they could do, even in advance of the move.
 
Besides Lansdowne Park, Heritage Ottawa has provided input to the Centretown Community Design Plan, the development plans for the Christ Church Conservation District, the Sisters of the Visitation Monastery in Westboro, and other issues in several Ottawa neighbourhoods. We are also reaching out to others to look for ways of proactively working on heritage issues, and have met with the National Capital Commission to discuss the Rideau Canal, the Chaudière Complex, and other topics of mutual interest. The system of Heritage Keepers is relatively new, but already proving its effectiveness, thanks to a very dedicated group. To further facilitate our advocacy work, the board has established an advocacy committee, headed by Jay Baltz, who has had considerable experience with heritage issues, including chair of the Ottawa Built Heritage Advisory Committee.
 
As for your President, it has certainly been a steep learning curve! And I don’t pretend that I will ever fill David Flemming’s shoes. I would like to express here and now my profound respect for David’s accomplishments, and appreciation of his ongoing mentoring: thank you! Members of Heritage Ottawa should know that I am only going to be president for a year; next May, the torch passes to Brigid Phillips Janssen. It’s going to be a busy year, and I look forward to the challenges.

Leslie Maitland, President