There are those who consider our built heritage just “old stuff” which stands in the way of realizing new development and should be unapologetically demolished.

Then there are those who are uninformed and assume that their governments will take care of heritage.

And, there are the willfully ignorant — like our premier who spends millions of dollars annually on salaries for those in his office who cannot seem to provide advice he listens to — that choose to believe heritage adds no value.

Finally, we have those for whom a mere two centuries of history does not deserve the respect engendered by the built heritage of the old world.

As I have written in the past, preserving our heritage is essential to maintain cultural identity, foster community pride, and provide tangible links to the past that educate future generations. Moreover, it creates a sense of place that informs and underwrites the unique character of a town.

However, often overlooked are the economic benefits generated by preserved heritage as reported in multiple studies that have been conducted across Canada and the United States.

Consider tourism, for example. The research indicates “heritage tourists” spend more per day than other tourists, stay longer at their destination and are much more likely to stay in a hotel, inn or B&B versus staying with friends or family.

According to Horizon Consumer Research and Data, during 2025, the heritage tourism market in Canada generated revenues of just short of $22 billion Canadian dollars. Further, they project that by 2033 those revenues are expected to reach $34 billion.

Consolidated research data suggests that this market currently supports well over 200,000 jobs in Canada.

Heritage tourism is just one of several economic boons granted as a direct result of preserving our shared history.

So, why don’t municipal governments take the preservation of heritage assets seriously?

NOTL can claim it does — we just saw the long-overdue expansion of Old Town’s heritage conservation district — but, this isn’t about lines on a map. It’s about enforcement of the law.

The Ontario Heritage Act (section 69) clearly spells out the penalties and fines for violating the provisions of this legislation.

For knowingly providing false information pursuant to the provisions of the act; or failing to comply with any order, direction or other requirement made under the act; or contravening the provisions of the act, individuals are liable to a fine of up to $50,000 and/or to imprisonment for up to one year. For corporations, the fine is up to $250,000.

In addition to any other penalties, the council of the municipality is empowered to restore the property “as nearly as possible to its previous condition,” and may recover the cost of the restoration from the owner of the property.

Those individuals or corporations convicted of demolishing or removing a building, structure or heritage attribute, the maximum fine is $1,000,000.

By the way, the penalties, fines and authority of the municipality to restore applies to cases of demolition by neglect as well.

Allow me to provide some specific NOTL examples.

Miss Young’s School at 620 King St. is possibly the oldest surviving log dwelling in Niagara. The lower two courses of logs are rotten and need to be replaced before a near term collapse occurs.

The condition of this building has been definitely known for two years and the owners have refused to supply a plan for its conservation. To my knowledge, no further action has been taken by the town to date (other than refusing to issue a demolition permit).

I have written about the David Secord House at 46 Paxton Ln. ad nauseam in this column so I’ll make this short.

There are holes in the roof that have been known to exist for more than five years and the owner refuses to address the issue. The town has issued no recent work orders nor has it initiated any restoration/preservation actions.

Most recently, out at 14785 Niagara River Pkwy. — owned by Mr. Benny Marotta — a backhoe was deployed to destroy the roof (and damage the stone walls) of the heritage designated 1830’s stone school likely built by John Hamilton on his Glencairn estate.

In response to a resident compliant, the town issued a stop-work order until the “appropriate permits and approvals” are obtained.

Further, they state, “This violation may also be subject to enforcement under the Ontario Heritage Act, which provides for significant penalties.”

May I observe there is no “may” about it.

This is a clear and blatant violation of the Ontario Heritage Act and deserves the full weight of the law (with associated penalties) to be visited upon a property owner who, due to his business history, should be fully conversant with this legislation and, by his actions, deliberately chose to break the law.

We prosecute for driving offenses, hate speech, theft, assault and a myriad of other greater and lesser offenses.

Why do we excuse those who murder our history?

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