Building owners oppose heritage status

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This article was published 14/01/2019 (2441 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Two buildings could be given heritage status against the wishes of their owners when the city’s historical buildings committee meets Wednesday.

The committee will vote on four properties that have been nominated for heritage status.

Owners of the Monte Cassino Court at 639 Portage Ave. and the 123-year-old Masonic Temple on the 300 block of Donald Street oppose the designation. They want committee members to vote down the requests to have the buildings added to the city’s list of historical resources.

The owners of the buildings, which are vacant, are concerned about the cost of maintaining the properties should they get protected heritage status.

In a letter to the city committee, the owners of the Monte Cassino Court, Mohammad Tariq and Dr. Ejaz Ahmad, wrote that high property taxes and significant water and fire damage make renovating the rundown building expensive. Giving the building heritage status would complicate the situation, they said.

“The 37-page report presented to the committee by the heritage department was prepared a long time ago, with little to no addition of new information regarding the present state of the building,” the owners said in the letter.

“Fire and water damage have considerably changed things over time. This report is not contemporaneous, hence this is a false depiction.”

If approved, nine elements of the building’s interior and exterior that are considered character-defining would be protected. The building, which was designed by local architect James Alexander Gauld, opened in 1910.

“This mixed-use block… is an excellent example of the type of (pre-First World War) development that occurred in downtown Winnipeg and the surrounding areas as the demand for modern commercial and residential space rose,” the heritage department report on the property reads.

The owners urged the committee members see the property in person before casting their votes.

“The building is in poor condition and needs extensive repairs and renovations, which require a large amount of money and resources,” the owners wrote. “We, as the owners of this building, do not see any significant value in our building that requires historical preservation and recognition.”

Knox United Church on Edmonton Street, which is downtown, and St. James Anglican Church on Tylehurst Street, which is across from Polo Park, have also been nominated for heritage status. The churches support the move.

ryan.thorpe@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @rk_thorpe