HI Terry: Thanks for the reply Unfortunately the people on the historical society had their HAND TIED for many years. They wanted to do an inventory of older homes but the problem was the new owners ( ie. investors) baulked at the thought of having the old farm houses viewed for historical purposes because if they had been certified as historic homes they would not be able to tear them down to make way for their plans for the property. Many of the past councils were not interested enough in historical houses but how much growth they could bring to Bradford West Gwillimbury. Hopefully you, the residences of Bradford West Gwillumbury will keep your new council accountable to the history of BWG. When the town, with Pat Storey as Mayor , wanted a property for a new fire hall they wanted the Old Convent without a doubt. Even thought Mr. Picavet payed the taxes on the property all the time the “legal hagglings” were underway the mansion sat empty for FIVE consecutive winters. Unfortunately, pampering the convent during that turbulent time was not a top priority item; henceforth the building was vandalized on a regular basis. At the time I found it was nothing but a mortal sin that such a fine building should be accessible to vandals. I personally approached the Town Council and Mayor Storey to see if the building could be properly boarded up to discourage further vandalism . I was basically told that the Safety Standards By-law which was in place to deal with his situation was unable to be looked after due to the lack of a by-law enforcement officer, and as I left the Mayors off ice his comment, and I remember very clearly after all these years, was “Oh well maybe it will burn down.” After fighting with Fred Picavet for TEN YEARS (1987) they came to an agreement with the developer and shortly after that DOWN the convent came. It seemed that many of the councils after Mayor Storeys group still had no vision for saving our Historic Homes and businesses. Hopefully the new council will work with the Historical Society and start saving farm homes and town homes. In PEI along the old water front area we have plaques stating the age and original owner of stores and homes. Things to think about up there in BWG.
Posted on: Mon, 05 Jan 2015 00:57:41 +0000
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