HERITAGE OTTAWA, By David B. Flemming

In April 2013, the Mayor and a few members of Council suddenly recognized the growing number of vacant and boarded-up buildings in Ottawa and convinced their Council colleagues to instruct staff to develop a strategy to deal with the problem. Heritage Ottawa welcomed this action.

We first suggested such an approach when we brought this matter to Council’s attention in December 2007 (Heritage Ottawa Newsletter, Winter 2008, pp.11-12), especially how it related to buildings in Heritage Conservation  Districts. At the time, we highlighted a number of examples of neglected properties.  We subsequently worked with former Councillor Georges Bédard and City staff in drafting a 2009 report to Council entitled Heritage Demolition by Neglect which was never implemented.

Although the current vacant building strategy deals with vacant properties in general, we are pleased that it includes a heritage component based upon the Standards and Guidelines for the Conservation of Historic Places in Canada.

Since the summer of 2013, city staff has identified 70 vacant and neglected buildings requiring attention, issuing demolition orders for 14 and various orders under the Property Standards By-law and the Boarded-Up By-law for the rest. In September, Council formally approved amendments to the Property Standards By-Law to permit the City to require proper documentation and care for deteriorating buildings covered by Parts IV and V of the Ontario Heritage Act.

The first test of this new strategy was a demolition application by the owner of 207-209 Murray Street and 287 Cumberland Street, two of the most egregious examples of demolition-by neglect. On the recommendation of the Built Heritage Sub-Committee, Council approved the demolition of 207-209 Murray Street and the partial demolition of 287 Cumberland Street subject to the owner preparing a detailed electronic as-found recording of both buildings and that two walls of the Cumberland Street building be supported by bracing structures and that they be included in any subsequent new construction on the site.

Heritage Ottawa does not agree with the observation of one of the councillors on the Built Heritage Subcommittee that Council’s decision in these cases marked a ‘’great victory for heritage.’’ At best, it is a modest beginning of dealing with the City’s long-standing failure to effectively deal with the degradation of our built heritage. We shall be encouraging the City to be more pro-active in trying to save entire buildings, not just portions of them. 

Also, we shall continue to encourage the City not to permit owners of vacant buildings of heritage interest to benefit from any property tax decrease unless they abide by the preservation standards contained in the new strategy and support the implementation of property tax reductions to encourage owners of buildings of heritage interest to preservation them for future occupancy.

David B. Flemming is Past President of Heritage Ottawa and has spent many hours over the years bringing the issues of Demolition by Neglect to the attention of City Councillors.