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An Osborne heritage building by any other name...

By: Bartley Kives

10/06/2009 1:00 AM | Comments: 3

The historic Dennistoun House at 166 Roslyn Rd. has been listed incorrectly in city records for 25 years.

A heritage home at 166 Roslyn Rd. may have a date with the wrecking ball, but at least it will be known by its proper name.

City council's executive policy committee will meet this morning to determine the fate of a 101-year-old Osborne Village home erroneously called Dennistown House by both city officials and a developer that wants build a condominium complex called Dennistown Flats.

The correct name of the home is actually Dennistoun House, as the structure was built in 1908 for Manitoba judge Robert Dennistoun, whose surname rhymes with Kenaston.

For the past 25 years, the name has been listed incorrectly in city documents, thanks to an error made by the consultant hired to conduct a heritage assessment of the property back in 1984, when it originally acquired its historic designation, city officials confirm.

Last week, after city council's property and development committee voted to strip the home of its heritage status as a prelude to demolition, relatives and descendents of Robert Dennistoun contacted the Free Press, the city and developer Sunstone Resort Communities to point out the error.

The city plans to amend its records and Sunstone will rename its Roslyn Road condo proposal Dennistoun Flats, officials confirmed this week. Ironically, the 25-year-old error provides ammunition to demolition proponents who argue Robert Dennistoun is not a well-known Winnipeg historical figure.

If EPC concurs with the previous decision to de-list Dennistoun House, the proposal to strip the home of its heritage status will come before city council as a whole on June 24.

Sunstone has sought the de-listing because it wants to build a 74-unit condominium complex comprised of a 12-storey tower and a row of townhouse units along Roslyn Road, north of the Osborne Village Safeway store.

bartley.kives@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition June 10, 2009 A2

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3 Comments

Posted by:

June 10, 2009 at 7:16 PM

Bottom line is in Winnipeg, it is not necessary to demolish heritage structures to build condos, given the ready supply of empty lots and non-historical buildings that could be torn town. The greatest tragedy of all though are the trees. it's a well known fact that you can't reproduce trees like that in a city environment any more - you can plant more but they will not reach anywhere near the same size. The developer does not seem prepared to even do a little PR work by saving at least a few of the trees - and have you seen their design for the condos? ugly.

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Posted by: Mr. Reader

June 10, 2009 at 11:29 AM

I'm not sure how old the photo for this article is... but from the outside the house appears to be in good shape (from the photo anyway), so why do they seek to have it destroyed? Why not try and save the house and find another use for it?

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Posted by: RememberNorthPortage

June 10, 2009 at 7:55 AM

"Ironically, the 25-year-old error provides ammunition to demolition proponents who argue Robert Dennistoun is not a well-known Winnipeg historical figure."

Why is this ironic?