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r~ Establishedin 1967 IIERITAkGE Volume 23, No. 1, r+~ Winter 1996 Celebrating our 28th year LJ OTTAWA ~o Do Dedicated to Preserving Our BuiltHeritage Presidential Appeal by JenniferRoseburgh HO is busier than ever - and quite well as other projects detailed inside minutes at meetings, staffing booths at frankly we need more hands on deck! the newsletter, require a considerable public events, helping produce. this As you'll see in the following pages, we devotion of time and effort. When, as newsletter, researching buildings, shar- are actively championing a number of has been the case, the same very ing expertise, fundraising,. office work, Ottawa sites in peril of the wrecker's small core of volunteers takes on so or balancing our books, there is a way ball. The Korean Embassy has reacti- many commitments, energies and you can help! Volunteering for Heritage vated a demolition permit for a pre- capacities are stretched to nearly the Ottawa (even an hour every couple of confederation worker's cottage in breaking point. months!), will renew your sense of Lower Town. The oldest structure on accomplishment, give you a chance to We KNOW that among our member- the Central Experimental Farm, the meet some other heritage. preservation- ship there exist a number of you who Booth Barn, has been slated for demoli- ists and have fun in the process! and other would be interested in becoming more tion unless Heritage Ottawa Please call our office answering interested parties can quickly come up actively involved in saving Ottawa's machine, and let us know of your with a use for it. The clock is nearly architectural heritage! Don't let lack of experience or professional training interest. Remember: your volunteer- run out on the recently-designated sec- in school in New deter you. Nor have fear that you ing can make all the difference ond oldest Francophone like one year - or St. Charles. And, we con- don't have vast amounts of spare what Ottawa looks Edinburgh, month- from now! .. tinue to negotiate with the National time. Like most of us, you can pick up one Capital Commission over the fate of what you need to know through the five old houses on the Nicholas - help of the other volunteers, and you Waller triangle, between the University can give however many minutes you of Ottawa and the Canal. , . may have available. As you can imagine, these preserva- Whether your interest be lobbying rRI tion and restoration campaigns, as politicians, stuffing envelopes, taking HERITAGE OTTAWA St. Charles School - Trusting the Trustees? ~y Stephane Hoffman INSIDE The History symmetrical five bay front facade with Presidential Appeal .. ... ......... ... ... ... .. .. .. 1, large windows and centrally located St. Charles School ....... ... ... ... .. ... .. ... ... .. 1 The historic St. Charles School at 24 double doors below a pavilion with a DialAgainst Destruction . ... .. .. .. .. ... ... ...... .. 2 Springfield Road in New Edinburgh carved stone panel inscribed with the A New Ontario Heritage Act .. ... ... ... .............. 3 has recently received designation as a building's name. Developing the ParliamentaryPrecinct ........ 4 heritage building under the Ontario Saint Charles School was constructed YourComments ... ... ... ... ... ............................. 4 Saint Charles School was 4 Heritage Act. at a criticaljuncture in the history of One View . ..: ... ... ... ... ...................................... known Ottawa 5. designed by two well the Roman Catholic School Board. Guidelines forSparks St1W. Terrace ........... architects, Moses Eddy and Francis From 1856 until 1910, Ottawa had one Experimental Farm's Booth Barn .................. 6 Sullivan. The school is a two-and-a-half Roman Catholic School Board operat- S. Korean Embassy ...................................... 6 story, red brick structure with a stone Art Competition and Exhibition ..................... 7 ing two systems English and French. 7 foundation and dressed stone string between Wallis House Success .................................. There were many disputes Heritage Ottawa Annual General Meeting . ...8 course, window sills and keystones. A the systems. Saint Charles School was rectangular structure, it features a Invitation to a Lecture ............... ... ..... ... .. .. ...8 continued onpage 2 St. Charles School - Trusting the Trustees? conti-wedfrompage 1 built in 1910 by the Roman Catholic this six month period the school board ing heritage conservation. Under the Separate School Board to serve the will be within its legal rights to demol- current statute for . Heritage French population of New Edinburgh. ish the school. LACAC and Heritage Conservation in Ontario, the Heritage The question of language rights was a Ottawa have offered their assistance to Act of 1974, the responsibility for dominant issue. In 1912, the English the RCSSB in finding a prospective preserving heritage is the sole respon- branch enforced Provincial Regulation buyer who would be interested in sibility of the municipalities. A munici- 17 forbidding any teaching in French. conserving and reusing the Saint pality may pass a by-law designating From then until 1915 riots occurred, Charles School. The RCSSB responded the property under the Heritage Act. culminating in the occupation of the with a letter stating that the offer for All alteration to a designated site must Guiges School and a negotiated settle- assistance will be forwarded to any be approved by the council which may ment. By the 1920s, the situation had potential buyers. During a New refuse such permission indefinitely. been resolved and the Board went back Edinburgh Garage Sale, Heritage The municipal council is given ninety to its two streams. Originally centred in Ottawa collected 150 signatures on a days to decide whether it favours Lowertown, Sandy Hill and New petition to save the Saint Charles demolition. If it decides against demo- Edinburgh it has become more decen- School, demonstrating the neighbour- lition, it can refuse to issue a demoli- tralized through the post-war subur- hood's support for the preservation of tion permit for an additional 180 days. banisation. This resulted in the closure the school. If a consensus to preserve the. building of the school in 1972. Despite its venera- is not reached at the end of that delay, ble past, the school is once again threat- The Future the building can be demolished. At this ened with demolition. point, a municipality's only recourse is The precarious status of the Saint to expropriate the building. We urge Last spring, le Centre multi-service a Charles School is a result of the twenty- Heritage Ottawa members to "Dial 1'enfance d'Ottawa-Carleton had pro- year-old provincial legislation govern- Against Destruction." posed to buy the school from the Roman Catholic Separate 'School Board (RCSSB) and set up a non-profit child care centre. The architects they had Dial Against Destruction retained had advised their client that There is something you can do to help save St. Charles school from demolition - the school would have to be demolished right from the comfort of your home! In the absence of a change of mind on to accommodate the new centre and the part of the Trustees of Ottawa's Roman Catholic Separate School Board, applied for a demolition permit in the Ottawa's second oldest Francophone school is scheduled .for the wreckers ball name of the RCSSB. This prompted the as soon as its protection under the Ontario Heritage Act expires in March. We Local Architectural Conservation urge Heritage Ottawa Members, and everyone. interested in preserving our Advisory Committee (LACAC) to put heritage, to contact the elected trustees to let them know that you are forward a motion for the heritage des- opposed to the needless destruction of this historic Ottawa and New ignation of the Saint Charles .School. Edinburgh landmark, a structure whose importance was recognized by Ottawa LACAC, Heritage Ottawa and the New City Council when they designated it under provincial legislation as an impor- Edinburgh Community Association tant structure, worthy of preservation . Urge the Trustees to respect the City (NECA) argued for the heritage desig- Council, the province and the New Edinburgh Community Association's view nation before the Planning and that the Board should find a sympathetic use for the stately building (Heritage Economic Development Committee. The Ottawa Development Incorporated has formally offered their assistance), matter was eventually debated at City instead of demolishing it in order to try and sell a levelled parcel of land. Council, with Heritage Ottawa and ACT NOW BEFORE ITS TOO LATE! NECA convincing a majority to confer Below are the Trustees.' names and phone numbers. Please call as many as pos- heritage designation to Saint Charles sible, beginning with the Chair and Vice Chair, and those Trustees With the designation of the Saint representing your district . If you have any questions, please call Charles School, le Centre multi-service Heritage Ottawa. a 1'enfance d'Ottawa-Carleton offer to 3 purchase the school was withdrawn Zone 1 (West) Zone 2 (South) Zone (East) and with it the application for demoli- Jim Kennelly Kathy Ablett Robert Allen: (Chairperson): 523-3443 731-6167 tion. Shortly thereafter, the RCSSB 523-4886 applied for a demolition permit. The Patrick J. Mullan: Richard Goulet: John Chiarelli: 731-9732 737-1164 City's Heritage Planning Department 225-9276 reviewed this application and recom- Patricia M. O'Rielly: Sandra LaVigne: Frank Dalton: 739-5657 230-2024 mended that Council withhold 224-4999 approval. On September 6, 1995, City Paul Sweeny: Therese Maloney Cousineau: Bonnie Kehoe: 738-8033 235-2024 Council turned down the application 828-4931 giving the - Saint Charles School a 180 Don Murphy: day reprieve from demolition. Unless a 733-8434 compromise can be reached within HERITAGE OTTAWA A New Ontario Heritage Act - Blowing in the Wind? by Marc Denhez For over seven years, civil servants in defacto protection, but would also treatment is not called upon when- Toronto have been working away on a become instruments of investment ever avoidable. new Ontario Heritage Act, to update the for Ontario.