12-20-09

Community Press Conference and Rally

Joe Mihevc, City Councillor and Author Glen McArthur from Lloyd Alter on Vimeo.

From a recent article from The Architectural Conservancy of Ontario:

Catherine Nasmith talked about Demolition by Neglect; this morning I saw what I am going to call Demolition by the Pound. You don’t need a demolition permit to take out windows, remove non-structural trim, eaves, soffits and details, so if you are a developer and you know that the City is looking at listing your house, (it was designed by John Lyle who did Union Station) you go for it; pretty soon there is not much of value left. Joe Mihevc and the Casa Loma Ratepayers can jump up and down, there is nothing they can do.

This is not an isolated case. All over the city, people are destroying heritage buildings and districts with careless “renovations”, ruining the character of their homes and in fact reducing their property values by tearing out important historic elements like windows. They don’t make them like John Lyle used to; the City should have controls on this kind of thing. Oh, I forgot, they do. They just don’t use them.

It is a tragedy that this happened, and it is a scandal that the City cannot control it. It is demolition by the pound. It should require a permit.

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