| A small, slightly rundown house in the beltline is the latest front in one group’s quixotic quest to protect history in an area prone to redevelopment.
Formerly D’Michaelangelo’s restaurant, it looks like, and pretty much is, an old, abandoned house. A paintjob is sorely needed; windows in the back have been shattered; and a badly weatherworn, dangerous-looking staircase leads to the top floor from the outside.
But to volunteers with the Calgary Heritage Initiative, it is a small but important chunk of Canada’s history — the childhood home of George Stanley, designer of the Canadian Flag. Members of the group plan to lobby all levels of government to have the building recognized as an important historic site, thus effectively saving it from the wrecking ball.
Bob van Wegan, external director of the CHI, submitted a letter to the City of Calgary asking for a discussion of all possible options with the owner of the Stanley house.
"We do not support future redevelopment that does not preserve the house, and any renovations to the house should not further damage the historic fabric," states Van Wegan. "The building would likely be eligible for municipal or provincial heritage designation and the related density transfer benefits described in the Beltline ARP. We ask that the City discuss such options with the owner."
"I think it is a western connection to the flag that a lot of people don’t know about," says Tony Smith, an activist with the CHI. "Most people look at the flag and see it as this Upper Canada thing."
Smith says his interest in historical preservation began when the Mount Royal block was torn down. He says the group is receiving growing support from city residents. Dozens of historic sites are threatened in the inner city, including Penny Lane mall and Western Canada High School. The CHI has launched a public awareness campaign called Development Watch to help raise support for the protection of Calgary’s historic buildings. Its scope include Mission, Victoria Park and the Beltline.
"It’s a counter reaction. People take interest as they see all this development going on," Smith suggests.
Smith and his colleagues met with Stanley’s widow Ruth at the house on July 20th to hear stories about the Calgarian who gave Canada its flag design. Also present was Don Smith (unrelated to Tony), a history professor at the University of Calgary who is enthusiastically on board with the campaign to grant the house historical recognition.
"We’re getting quite a heritage portfolio. There is still an appreciation for history in Calgary," says Donald optimistically. "Here is something that is real. It’s not fabricated, and it’s in our city."
The house’s current owner, who could not be reached due to the City of Calgary’s privacy policy, does not plan to demolish the building or significantly change its appearance. Instead, they plan to clean it, renovate and convert it into a hair salon, which suits the CHI provided the exterior remains unchanged.
But the building’s former owner, Mary Cho, questions the feasibility of converting it into a hair salon, as opposed to tearing it down and selling the land to a developer. Cho, who now owns the corner store next door, says the building will require at least $200, 000 in renovation costs to recover, given the amount of work required to clean it and convert it from a restaurant to a beauty parlor.
Cho worries that a Heritage designation for the property next door will undermine the value of her own property and limit her own options when she decides to sell her store.
Such conflicts are inevitable for the CHI, with property values as high as they are downtown, says Van Wegan.
"In this case it’s interesting because we have an owner who is interested in using the existing house," he says. "But, in general, it feels like an uphill battle."
Smith says the group is not trying to run tour groups through the building, and will settle for a simple plaque commemorating Stanley.
Ultimately the owner will have to decide whether to make the house historic, which would ensure its safety long into the future, or decide against it thereby keeping development possibilities open.
There is a plus side, however, for owners of an historic properties in the beltline. Under the area’s new redevelopment plan, they can receive regular compensation for lost potential revenue from development companies.
Under current building regulations, for example, residential building developments can only contain so many living units depending on the building’s size. But there are ways for developers to get density bonuses in their building permits. Through socially-responsible actions like including low-income units, using green technology, energy-efficient designs etc., a developer can get special permission to fit more units into a development than would normally be permitted and thus make more money.
By compensating the owner of a heritage site for revenue they could have hypothetically made, developers are granted density bonuses. In other words, a company building an apartment complex could buy a density bonus from the owner of the Stanley house, making the historic property profitable.
The CHI hopes the density transfer policy, unprecedented in the city, will sway the owner’s decision in their favour.
Calgary’s growing historical preservation movement is a natural outgrowth of the city’s changing identity, suggests Donald Smith. A city growing as rapidly as Calgary, he says, needs to preserve history to understand its direction.
"So many people in this city do not know where they are. So many people in the country do not know who they are. (Preserving the past) just enhances our living in the present."
The selection of the flag’s design had significant ramifications for national unity. A carelessly-chosen design threatened to further ignite separatism in Quebec, which was already quite strong. To pattern it after the Flour Des Lis or the Union Jack would carry a dangerous connotation. Realizing this, the House of Commons decided Stanley’s Maple Leaf design was the ideal symbol for Canada — a new symbol for a new nation.
Stanley’s profile in Canada goes beyond designing the flag: he was recognized as a leading historian, served as Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick, and wrote a definitive biography on Louis Riel.
But, as with just about any old downtown building that is limited in size and function, the threat of development looms over the Stanley house. Without official historic designation, its future remains unclear. |
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