Condolence messages torn off fence around demolished Crescentwood home

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This article was published 18/12/2017 (2861 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The wreath and cards attached to a construction fence by Crescentwood residents mourning the demolition of an old neighbourhood home were torn down by Sunday, a day after the Free Press published a story about the empty lot.

Two weeks ago, Crescentwood residents woke up to the demolition of a 100-year-old home on Harvard Avenue across from Peanut Park. After the white-brick 17 Harvard Ave. home disappeared, anonymous cards and children’s drawings were posted on a fence surrounding the construction zone.

Ian Bastin, who lives a couple doors down from the empty lot, said he noticed someone had written “stop whining” on one of the cards Saturday night, the night before everything was ripped off the fence.

“The point was made,” he said. “I don’t blame them for taking (the cards) down. I do feel bad; it’s not a nice way to start a new life in a neighbourhood.”

Mannington Custom Homes, the company hired to build a home on the Harvard Avenue lot, declined to comment.

“They started doing a sewer line or something, so I’m going to guess the company is preparing to start construction and came and saw it and took it off,” Bastin said.

The new property owners could not be contacted for comment.

The previous owner of the house said the last they heard, the new owners weren’t in the country.

Friends of Peanut Park, a neighbourhood community group, is trying to get Crescentwood deemed a Heritage Conservation District (HCD) so things such as the home’s sudden demolition can’t happen. An HCD would mean all construction and property renovations in the area would have to complement the neighbourhood and its history.

“We like our historic neighbourhood,” said Barb Parke, the vice-president of Friends of Peanut Park. “I would say 100 per cent of us are constantly doing renovations and fixing up and trying to keep our place looking as genuine as it was when it was first built, so we don’t want to see (demolition) happen.”

She said what happened earlier this month at 17 Harvard Ave. is the first complete demolition the neighbourhood has seen in years.

Bastin said he thinks real estate agents have a responsibility to tell potential purchasers what the spirit of the neighbourhood is, regardless of the area.

“They should be aware that Crescentwood feels strongly about the fabric of the neighbourhood,” he said.

“If you flew in from Toronto, how would you know?”

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca