HERITAGE OTTAWA
Heritage Canada The National Trust released its 12th annual Top Ten Endangered Places list and Worst Losses List today.
The selection of endangered properties from coast to coast was compiled from the results of the National Trust’s call for nominations as well as those stories and news items followed throughout the year.
Ottawa's Central Experimental Farm is one of ten properties to make the Top Ten Endangered Places List.
Heritage Ottawa and others strongly object to the dismantling of the Central Experimental Farm National Historic Site, and a significant national research institution dedicated to agricultural research which is of benefit to all Canadians.
Why it matters
A rare example of a farm within a city, the Central Experimental Farm (CEF) was established in 1886 as an agricultural and scientific research centre. In recognition of its historical, cultural and scientific significance—and to protect it from encroachment and inappropriate development—it was designated a National Historic Site in 1998. The accompanying Management Plan and Commemorative Integrity Statement identify the national heritage value of the Farm in terms of its history, contributions to Canadian science and farming, overall design, research fields and historic landscape elements.
As a cultural landscape, the CEF is significant for its ongoing research on long-term climate change and soil integrity, its extensive contributions to agricultural research, and as a symbol of the central role agriculture has played in shaping Canada.
To this day, the Farm remains an open-air laboratory focused on long-term experiments in agriculture.
Why it’s endangered
On November 3, 2014, the federal government announced it would be severing 60 acres of the northwest corner of the Farm to be leased to the Ottawa Hospital for the development of a future hospital campus. This block of land represents close to 20% of the total useable crop research area on the Farm and will include fields that have been in continuous use for experimentation since 1886.
The severance runs contrary to the Management Plan, and was made without consulting the Central Experimental Farm Advisory Council, a body created to advise the Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada on the implementation of the Management Plan and engage the public in the evolution of the Farm.
Where things stand
The scientific and heritage communities have been actively advocating for a reversal of the decision to sever this nationally important scientific landscape, which will threaten the long-term vitality and health of the Farm as a cultural heritage landscape. Advocates include Heritage Ottawa, the Greenspace Alliance of Canada, the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects and the National Trust for Canada, along with many concerned individual residents and scientists.
The Top Ten Endangered Places List is released annually to bring national attention to sites at risk due to neglect, lack of funding, inappropriate development and weak legislation. From unique 19th-century landmarks to simple vernacular housing, stone railway stations to Modernist airports, heritage districts to single buildings, the list has become a powerful tool in the fight to make landmarks, not landfill.
The National Trust uses three primary criteria to determine the 10 final sites for inclusion on the list:
• Significance of the site
• Urgency of the threat/potential for a positive and creative solution
• Evidence of active community support on the ground for its preservation
For more information, and to see the complete list of endangered places and worst losses, visit the Heritage Canada The National Trust website.