Heritage Advisory Committee chair expresses regret over Woodbine house demolition

Bob Curgenven suggests the town should create reports instead of developers

Yorkregion.com
Jan. 3, 2017
By Ali Raza

The town should commission reports for heritage buildings instead of developers, says Heritage Advisory Committee chair Bob Curgenven.

Responding to the Sun-Tribune’s story on the demolition of a house on 17166 Woodbine Ave., Curgenven said the Heritage Advisory Committee was dedicated to giving the structure a heritage designation, but the owner wanted a demolition.

“We were already in the process of attempting to designate the place and it’s been one of these nightmare things,” he said. “Dealing with a religious organization behaving like a developer is unbelievable.”

Curgenven is referring to the Catholic Cemeteries and Funeral Services - Archdiocese of Toronto, which is the current owner of the property and put forth a demolition permit.
The archdiocese says a structural engineer assessed the property and determined “he could not ensure the safety of his workers to go into the building and prepare footings necessary to brace the structure for restoration.”

“The demolition permit was issued based on the cultural heritage impact assessment presented well in advance of council’s Aug. 23, 2016 meeting,” Marketing and Public Relations director Amy Profenna said in an email.

But Curgenven believes the process was rushed.

“The building has been subject to numerous attempts by the town’s bylaw department to protect,” he said. “The Catholic archdiocese spent more in legal fees combatting these attempts than it would have to cost to protect the building.”

Curgenven says since the archdiocese’s report deeming the structure unsafe, another report commissioned by the archdiocese and written by architectural historian Bruce Corley “clearly stated the building was sound and could be preserved.”

But the archdiocese insists “the building was in such poor condition it was considered not feasible to restore,” Profenna wrote.

Curgenven believes the issue stems from the town, citing the lack of a specialized staff member to concentrate specifically on these types of reports. He says the current planner is overworked.

“You can compare with East Gwillimbury who have four to five times the number of properties designated,” he explained. “We can only do two houses a year, so we have to look at the most vulnerable.”

Curgenven believes that the town should commission reports instead of developers to avoid similar incidents.

“But that comes down to cash, and no one wants an increase in property taxes.”