Nobody is sure who coined the term “sleepy little town,” but one thing is for certain: in the past few years, the Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake certainly cannot be described in those terms.

During the period of the current sitting council, there have been a multiplicity of developments and events that have divided the community while threatening the character and built heritage of the town.

Of course there are the “big” ones which, amongst many others, include:

Approval granted for the construction of a major hotel in a residential neighbourhood, with adverse impacts — all of which can be found defined as “do not do this” in the standards and guidelines for the Conservation of Historic Places in Canada — on at least eight historic homes in the immediate vicinity, while permanently altering the peace and reasonable liveability expectations of neighbouring residents.

This is not to mention the potential legacy issues — associated with infrastructure, stormwater management, etc. — which, if realized, will burden NOTL taxpayers for years to come.

And, approval of the Shaw Festival’s new Royal George development — which required the demolition of five historic buildings — which, should the plans as currently presented be built out, will not only permanently and negatively alter the historic Queen streetscape.

These plans, which the town’s consultants (ERA Architects) specifically stated would have negative impacts on the preservation of our established Queen-Picton heritage district, fly directly in the face of the 1986 conservation plan.

This is not to mention the loss of the heritage streetscape integrity (a major tourist drawing card) and the long-term liveability and enjoyment of property for the residents within the established heritage district.

These two examples, amongst others, demonstrate that the majority of our current councillors and lord mayor care not for the integrity of NOTL’s built history and preserving the character of our wee town but instead subscribe to Doug Ford’s “Ferris wheel” underwritten vision of Niagara as Las Vegas North.

Let’s go from big to small and visit Niagara River Parkway.

Last April, Glencairn Hall, a rare example of early 19th-century Greek revival architecture in Niagara, was burnt to the ground in what our police have classified as arson.

Apparently, our law enforcement agencies have not been able to identify the perpetrators of this crime to date. The residents of NOTL (and the country) are left poorer by its loss.

As an indirect result of the destruction of Glencairn, the heritage property was allowed to be subdivided with the severed portion of the property attached to the holdings of the neighbour to the south.

This past May, said neighbour began work on the circa-200-year-old heritage-designated stone schoolhouse sitting on the lot between his residential property and the newly acquired severed Glencairn lands with a backhoe — both removing the roof and impacting the building walls.

Thankfully, the alarm bells were rung by neighbours and the town moved to halt work, but the building remains exposed to the elements and vulnerable to demolition by neglect.

I am forced to note that the town has yet to publish their response (fines) associated with the property owner’s actions relative to the destructive work done on this heritage building.

Then, as we move north, Don Chapman’s iconic mid-century modern home at 15319 Niagara River Pkwy. has been recently relegated to the dustbin of history by the municipal heritage committee and subsequently town council approving a demolition application.

Now, beginning as far back as January 2021, I have described this building as an architectural tour-de-force — a brilliant creative expression of a pivotal Niagara architect (“Arch-i-text: A masterwork,” Jan. 6, 2021, The Lake Report).

And, as such, I believe that every effort should have been made to preserve the building in perpetuity. However, such was not the case.

After reviewing the application and accompanying submitted documents pursuant to applying for a demolition permit, a notable Ontario heritage architect of my acquaintance penned an open letter which stated that, in his professional opinion, “The information provided to town staff, the municipal heritage committee, council and the public, was insufficient to conclude that any conservation measures were exhausted and demolition was required.”

He went on to state that: “the [submitted] documents contain no evidence of analysis of the building design, no specific condition data, nor any conservation consultation or ‘measures,’ nor evidence of a specific risk to public safety, and therefore nothing to support the Staff rationale for recommending approval [of the application].”

In 10 paragraphs, he cited specific deficiency issues with the application, up to and including the failure to comply with provincial legislation: Architects Act (see sections 1, 11(1&5a), and 46).

As a result, he called for NOTL’s council to reverse a “poorly informed decision.”

This open letter was ignored by our sitting council.

Typical of most of the divisive decisions rendered by our current council and lord mayor, it seems their priority pivots around, and allow me to paraphrase an old axiom, “Money talks and good sense walks.”   

But apparently, NOTL residents, like you and I, can be handily ignored.

Brian Marshall is a NOTL realtor, author and expert consultant on architectural design, restoration and heritage.