| As redevelopment of the inner city escalates, a new group called the Calgary Heritage Initiative has formed to try and save the city’s most valuable remaining heritage buildings from demolition.
Chair Janet Woolgar says some important buildings in the city aren’t on the Calgary Heritage Authority’s heritage inventory, which leaves them vulnerable to development pressures. The new group plans to do its own research on historically significant buildings around the city with the goal of having the information in place before they are threatened by new development. The group also has a "development watch" on its website, where members monitor how development plans around the city may impact historic buildings. One development the group will be keeping a close eye on is EnCana’s plans for a new office tower on 7th Avenue S.E. EnCana has bought two historic hotels, the Regis and the York, which the group wants to see preserved. They will also be lobbying the Calgary Exhibition and Stampede to preserve the eight buildings on the city’s heritage inventory that are located within its expansion area.
Woolgar says the Calgary Heritage Initiative also wants to network with existing heritage groups and community associations to help save important buildings.
Preserving historic buildings is important so that upcoming generations have a sense of Calgary’s past, she says.
"It’s never the same if you’re looking at photographs as it is to be in (a historic) building or see it on the outside," she says. "People like to have a sense of belonging…. It’s very hard on the human psyche, as far as I’m concerned, to lose all your sense of your past. Part of a sense of belonging or history or place is being able to look back and see your roots."
Woolgar says the city has already lost an "alarming number" of historic buildings in the past and her group wants to reverse the trend. The demolition of the former St. Mary’s school was a "national embarrassment" and helped mobilize Calgarians who care about the city’s history, she says.
"Every year, if nobody says anything or does anything or if city hall doesn’t have a very strong policy as far as heritage buildings go, most of them will be eliminated," she says.
Woolgar, who was formerly involved with the Beltline Heritage Group, says she’s happy to see that some Calgary developers are taking a sincere interest in preserving heritage buildings. She points to the Arriva development in Victoria Park, where the developer is preserving the old sandstone school on its site. But she says there’s still a long way to go.
"It can be very disheartening when you’re dealing with a developer who has no interest and you can tell they’ll do anything they can to get through their project without any heritage preservation," she says.
Bob van Wegen, a member of the Calgary Heritage Initiative, says he wants Calgarians to know that the city has "a rich and interesting history."
"We also have this boom-and-bust cycle, so there’s so much destruction and construction all the time. I think it’s really important for the quality of the city to have some heritage buildings. It’s a physical connection to the real history of the city. So many new people are coming here – they need that connection to the history more than anybody," he says.
The group’s website is www.calgaryheritage.org. |
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