9;I The Winter 1980 78 DUNLOE ROAD, TORONTO, ONTARIO Issue 24 A Report from the “Preservation Crisis Canada Trust. Among this last group has been the President of John Labbatt Limited whose own firm has been commend- Centre” ed for its sensitive restoration of some of the oldest buildings in London to serve as corporate headquarters. At the June, 1979 Annual Meeting, the decision was taken to The latest word on the issue from the Guelph Historical formally reactivate the Society’s Preservation Committee. A Society is not very encouraging. But even if this particular number of factors lay behind the decision including the fact building is lost. hopefully Canada Trust will think twice about that there was often a very real need for support of the the impact their building plans can have on a community and preservation efforts of local groups at the provincial level. on the very fragile architectural heritage of the province. Because of the growing size and complexity of preservation could issues, it was felt that both local groups and individuals For preservationists, this is just one battle; there are many best be served by a committee specializing in the field. be fought. Some will be lost, but if we persevere, Another factor was the belief that such a committee could more to more will be won in the years ahead. more effectively carry on the public information function of presenting workshops and conferences such as the series — Buchner which had commenced with the Heritage Preservation: A E. Community Effort conference at Alton in November 1978. Gerald Killan, formerly Chairman of the Local Societies From the Secretary’s Desk Committee, was chosen to chair the new committee. The other members are Heather Broadbent, Robert Bowes, and Fred Armstrong. Coincident with the dawn of the new decade has been the Society’s move to new quarters. After six years on Bathurst Toronto, M5P Among the many activities planned by Gerry and his com- Street, we are now located at 78 Dunloe Road, mittee was a “Preservation Crisis Centre". The idea was 2T6. The new telephone number is 486-1232. For those of you some time, I suggest that the centre would mobilize support for local groups who might want to visit the offices at Spadina Road. through the means at the committees disposal whenever the that you look for Forest Hills Public School on and Eglin- need arose. approximately half way between St. Clair Avenue ton Avenue. We are situated in Room 207 of the South the visitor; it is When Canada Trust announced its intentions of destroying Building of the School. A word of caution to visiting the of- one of the landmark buildings in Guelph in order to build new best to call ahead for an appointment before quarters, the Guelph Historical Society appealed for fices. assistance by turning to the Ontario Historical Society to new hopes for a bet- among other groups in its fight to retain the important Wyn- The burgeoning decade brings not only new questions. Nowhere is dham black for its community. The battle to turn the minds ter and brighter future, but also The closing year of of Canada Trust and Guelph City Council has been the first this more true than in the heritage field. going to be a lot challenge for the Crisis Centre. the 70's held many signs that things were tougher for heritage organizations. Newspapers were full of spending Influencing the decisions of a giant corporation like Canada reports of tougher attitudes by government towards new series of Trust or a development-minded municipal council is never on cultural projects. The prospect of an entire supported museums is in an easy task, even at the best of times. There are a great regulations governing publically At the same time, many factors at work, not the least of which is the corporate the offing. The list could go on and on. the heritage and or the civic image. With this in mind, Gerry and his commit- there were many encouraging signs for societies be- tee have been working hard to remind both Canada Trust and historical movement. The number of new local be an all-time high Guelph City Council that an image can be a double edged ing formed brought the total to what must were appointing sword. A number of petitions protesting the destruction of the and an increasing number of municipalities The Block have been circulated and then sent to Council. Local Architectural Advisory Committees <LACACs>. organizations Newspapers have been aprised of the Society's objections to number of local history publications by both New programmes of- the redevelopment and have, in turn, responded by devoting and individuals was continuing to grow. attended en- considerable space to reports of the situation. Notable in this fered by historical societies were being by than with the regard has been the London Free Press - London being the thusiastic audiences. Nowhere is that more true and preservation site of the headquarters of Canada Trust. Gerry has also O.H.S. where the new technical workshops new people into the made representations directly to the Corporation asking conferences have been sell-outs bringing in general. them to reconsider and letters have been sent to Directors of society and/or into the heritage movement We know the audience is there, their expectations have been Once again I am appealing for volunteer help in the office. raised and they are expecting us to carry on our work. But Needed are people to work on the publication orders and on now, with the diminishing funds available we have to look the membership records. The publication orders usually very carefully at what we are able to do and what will have means one day every other week while the membership work the greatest benefit. And since so many heritage groups have requires one half to one day a week. If you can do some very proven themselves as being useful and viable organizations rudimentary typing (the peck and search method is fine). are in the communities, how are the organizations going to main- willing to become involved, and can afford the time. please tain their credibility with business people and local govern- call me at the Society‘s office (486-1232). ment officials expecially with greater demands on every dollar of income‘? These are questions which are facing all of Following this column is the “Local Liaison Officers us. For its part, the O.H.S. is going to continue to respond to Newsletter" written by our Local Liaison Coordinator, the needs of our members, both organizations and in- Heather Broadbent. We introduced Heather when the Pro- dividuals, as they enunciate them and, as well, strike out in gramme was started over a year ago. But. in the interim, new directions - to maintain leadership in the valuable work there have been a number of changes in the ranks of our of preserving Ontario’s heritage. Local Liaison Officers as well as the addition of a number of Officers from new societies. So, we thought that we would re- Of course a powerful tool in the work of any organization is its introduce Heather so that everyone would know who she is membership list and the funds generated by the membership and what she is doing for us. fees. By now you should have received your renewal invoice for 1980. Not to belabour a point, but another gentle reminder Heather's position with The Ontario Historical Society is is in order to the effect that the Society has established a multi-fold. She is the volunteer Local Liaison Coordinator subscription fee of $5.00 for Ontario History for those people and in that position she is responsible for the composition of who wish to receive it. All members will receive the Bulletin the quarterly newsletter which appears in the Bulletin. In as well as copies of the technical leaflets as they are issued that same role, she receives a great deal of correspondence and reduced rates for other publications of the Society and from local societies around the province and must deal with the training workshops which we present throughout the both the positive and negative news which the letters bring. year. Thus, membership continues to be an excellent value. She is very active in the work of the Society's Preservation and Local Societies committees and in that capacity is in- Do not forget that our “Extra Member" campaign is in full volved in the preparation of conferences and dealing with swing. We want to double our membership and if every issues which come to the attention of the two committees. member encourages just one more person to join we will One should also not forget that Heather is a member of the easily reach our goal. A simple way to reach your quota is to Executive Committee of the O.H.S. give a membership to someone as a gift. They will remember your thoughtfulness for twelve months. If all of that was not enough to keep Heather busy. she is ‘ a o o President of the Peel County Historical Society and thereby Quickly approaching readiness are two new issues in the Ap- Chairman of the Board of the Peel Museum and Art Gallery: proaching ()ntario‘s Past series. Number three in the series acting Chairman of Caledon LACAC. Chairman of Caledon is a work by Dorothy Duncan on how to research museum ar- Showcase Committee and ViceChairman of the Albion- tifacts. Dorothy is well known in the province's museums as Bolton Historical Society.