By Liz MacKenzie
Councilors on Built Heritage Sub Committee vote to demolish 171 Bruyère
Against heritage planner recommendations and against arguments from the heritage expert members of the committee, city council members of Built Heritage Sub-Committee voted for demolition of 171 Bruyère in a split-vote decision on February 11.
In December 2015, Ottawa Community Housing came to the community with a proposition: let us tear down a building that no longer meets our needs and we will build an innovative heritage-themed parkette on the site. There were two issues with this proposal. First, the building at 171 Bruyère is in the Lowertown West Heritage Conservation District and protected under the Ontario Heritage Act. Second, residents at neighbouring Belanger Manor, 181 Bruyère are plagued with unwanted activities at the adjacent park and opposed another park that would attract more of the same.
The Lowertown Community Association Heritage Committee, whose mandate is to advocate for the protection of our heritage properties, opposed the demolition. At a meeting of residents, the opposition to the proposed parkette was strong, for very specific reasons: no more drugs and prostitution in the neighbourhood. There was sweeping support for a community garden on the site.
On February 11, the councilor members succumbed to the arguments from Ottawa Community Housing and voted to recommend demolition in a close 4-3 vote decision. The public members of the committee, heritage experts Carolyn Quinn, Barry Padolsky and Sandy Smallwood argued that demolishing 171 Bruyère would send a dangerous signal that demolition of protected buildings was an acceptable option to rehabilitation.
They were outvoted by the four city councillors on the committee: Scott Moffatt, Marianne Wilkinson, Catherine McKenney and committee chair Tobi Nussbaum. Councillor Mathieu Fleury is chair of the OCH Board of Directors and supported the demolition.
The switch in the OCH proposal is that the bait – an innovative and groundbreaking design for the site – has had its budget slashed from $100,000 to $20,000. On this reduced budget, it will take some magic to produce anything like the quality of design originally shown.
As we lose our heritage buildings, Lowertown is no longer the proud testament to Colonel By and those that built this city, and becomes just another neighbourhood of rushed and disposable urban planning. Will lying down in front of wrecking crews and human chains to stop demolition come back into fashion?