Heritage processes inadequate

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(DALE CUMMINGS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS)

Barber House, the city's oldest residence on its original property, is often described as a mythical phoenix, repeatedly rising from the ashes. Arsonists often have set fire to the historical building, but after Monday's fire this bird surely is on its last feather. That should concern the city and province, both of which have designated Barber House as heritage property.

For years, the dwelling has sat vacant, vulnerable to the ravages of time, its industrial neighbours and firebugs. Fire investigators are still trying to determine the cause of Monday's fire, which razed the roof, gutted the second storey and has made the task of preserving and restoring the property more complex and expensive.

After being neglected in city hands for years, Barber House was found by a local community group in 2006 to sit on contaminated soil. It was another complication in a withering process of navigating the provincial and city bylaws, regulations and legal requirements to get ownership of the property. Last week, Barber House was transferred to Point Douglas' Sisters Initiating Steps Towards a Renewed Society. On Tuesday, a day after the fire, ground just north of the house was dug up for soil remediation where a $1.3-million day care centre will rise.

That construction gives rise to real hope that the square-hewn log structure, built by an early resident in the 1860s in one of the city's most storied neighbourhoods, will live again as a vibrant presence there. It has not been an easy turnaround -- a board member of SISTARS says that the group lacked the sophistication to wend its way through a series of bureaucratic and legal hoops that protect the property, which was transferred to SISTARS by the city for $1. The city wants its interest in a heritage property protected, as does the province for its investment in the day-care centre.

The burden has been borne by community activists, who have been helped by a local architect. But their journey illustrates the complexity of saving old, cherished structures -- private interests with access to capital will restore buildings that have commercial potential where the project is financially feasible, but buildings such as Barber House survive on the skills of community groups.

Barber House itself is a long way from being saved: A seniors group will be the main tenant of a restored building, but SISTARS must still find sufficient provincial grants to match federal funding available to non-profit groups saving historical sites. The fire means that another construction estimate -- the original was about $600,000 -- is needed. One saving grace is that the blaze took off a roof that needed replacing and there were no plans to use the second storey, although the external look of Barber House must be preserved. The log structure, however, appears to remains solid.

The use of Barber House and property for the Point Douglas community is to be applauded, but the lengthy process shows activists were ill-equipped for the labyrinth of regulatory and grant approvals across three levels of government. A heritage property was vulnerable to decay for too long.

In some respects, Barber House's story mirrors the difficulty private developers experience in bringing old commercial properties back to the market as viable investments. New programs are making that easier -- the Avenue Building near Portage and Main will be turned into condos now with the expansion of a tax grant program long desired by the community.

But getting to the various pots of public money still demands a long, hard slog through bureaucracies of city, provincial and federal governments operating too often in isolation. Community volunteer groups, in particular, need special attention and guidance.

Barber House's tumultuous path to redemption shows all three levels of government need to co-ordinate and streamline their heritage restoration systems to better support the efforts of both public and private interests.

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition June 9, 2010 A12