WELCOME to our NEW HOME!
Community Heritage Ontario is a provincial umbrella organization and advisory body for Municipal Heritage Committees.
These local volunteer committees are known as Municipal Heritage Committees (formerly called LACACs – Local Architectural Conservation Advisory Committees) and exist to advise local municipal councils on heritage matters.
We are most grateful to the people whose talents had designed and maintained our original website.
As with all things, time marches on and new needs and opportunities have required a more modern approach to reaching out to our members and the general public. Our new home offers not just information from us, but more importantly, information from you. We are listening, we are responsive and together, we shall be more effective and successful as the ”Gatekeepers of Heritage”.
- Roscoe M. Petkovic – CHO
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*** BURNING HOT ISSUES ***
This is where you post your burning hot issues that require immediate assistance. Please be as specific and to the point as possible, leaving person(s) to contact, with email and phone number. Also please include crucial dates with regard to the issue. Thank you!
We need Help. 2012 – Niagara is designated as one of the Capital Cultures of Canada. There is always a BUT.
The joke behind all this is that City Council is voting this Tuesday April 24th to rezone the legendary battlefield grounds so an apartment building can be built on it. This was just revealed a short while ago to a group of volunteers who are trying to preserve this land for the future yet the association wanting to build the apartment building knew a year ago.
There are many reasons why not to destroy this property and many future uses for it.
First, there are lots of city properties to build that apartment on to get the tax base.
Secondly, Niagarans, Native Canadians, British, Americans and Black Loyalists fought and died on that field. The Underground Railroad gave the Blacks a right to fight. These groups were our earliest Veterans.
Third, the school on the ground has to be demolished as it is not safe and has not been used in years. It is also on the path of the USA 21st infantry charge.
Fourth, the density of that area is already at full capacity.
Yes, we will have a new museum, which is exciting but what is wrong with saving such an amazing Cultural piece of history. We celebrate from 2012 to 2015 and isn’t it just going to be pathetic to tell visitors to the historic Cemetery, “see where that apartment building is, that WAS the battleground of 1814”. Not too embarrassing.
The British have a museum and statue in memory of 2012-2015. The USA honours their fields of battle and veterans.
It can remain a beautiful park, a place for historical education classes and a place for proud historical visitors to visit.
Contact the Mayor of Niagara Falls, Jim Diodati at jdiodati@niagarafalls.ca
Thank you for whatever anyone will help us with
It is possible to have the battle field designated under the terms of the Ontario Heritage Act since the Act designates “property” not buildings.
I would suggest your local MHC put forth a recommendation to have the site designated.
FREE Properties in PERIL unless moved!
Pickering heritage home give away The City of Pickering is giving away four houses for free. The catch: any takers would have to fund the relocation of the designated heritage homes. The houses are located on federally-owned lands in northern Pickering and were slated for demolition by Transport Canada last year.
They include:
• Whitson-Ness House, 840 Eighth Concession Road
• Unnamed farm house, Ninth Concession Road
• Richardson-Will House, 5050 Sideline 24
• Hoover-Watson House, 5245 Sideline 28.
Relocation details, images and further information are available
from the city website. The deadline to submit an expression of interest is noon May 4.
RE: The Battlefield,
It is a sad comment on our society in general that any such re-zoning and development plans would be considered for such an historic site.
Municipal politicians need constant retraining on heritage and its value. They need to be educated to see beyond the simple math of budgets and how they can sacrifice heritage to raise money to support their community projects and programs.
Designation is one of the keys to preservation, however it is the municipal council who must pass the by-law. If council is not listening to its heritage committee and is listening more intently to the developer and the carrot of cash that is promised with development, then the argument for preserving the site is lost.
All too often Ontario municipalities see heritage as a liability rather than the asset it could be.