KIM BURTON-SCHRAM
LOCAL JOURNALISM INITIATIVE REPORTER
According to North Glengarry Mayor Jamie McDonald, the Township of South Glengarry will support his township’s designation of the Glengarry County Archives as a heritage building.
Although it has been part owner of the Alexandria landmark since 2019, South Glengarry had not been consulted before North Glengarry proposed the designation in October.
“We deeply apologize for not starting the process the way that it was intended,” Ainsley Hunt, Economic Development Officer for North Glengarry, told South Glengarry council at its last meeting.
North Glengarry realized its faux pas when it excluded South Glengarry from discussions and said it had planned to include its neighbour from the beginning.
Hunt and Lindsay Parisien, Senior Planner with SDG Counties, specified that the township was seeking to designate only the limestone portion of the building.
The structure meets criteria for its physical attributes reflecting its craftmanship and its historical significance of the culture at the time it was built in the 1800s by Colonel Angus Macdonell.
At an earlier meeting, South Glengarry Councillor Sam McDonell said that he opposed the plans because, “There is little to no benefit to designate.” He said the heritage designation had been discussed when the extensive renovations were started on the Archives and, at that time, it was decided not to pursue the designation. McDonell said it was not feasible nor affordable to complete the renovations according to specifications in the Heritage Act. He said maintenance and insurance costs are very high on heritage buildings.
McDonell was not present at the recent South Glengarry council meeting.
Councillors Stephanie Jaworski and Trevor Bougie expressed concerns about potential future costs for repairs and if the designation might hinder the sale of the building. Parisien said that because it was only a specific portion of the building and certain physical elements that were to be listed, any future renovations to the building could be made, provided the listed elements were not changed.
L’article Heritage designation tiff is history: Mayor est apparu en premier sur Cornwall Seaway News.
