Council is stepping in to secure a heritage designation for a Bradford West Gwillimbury home once owned by Earl Rowe after its current owner told the town he planned to tear it down.
“There’s no ifs, ands, or buts, this is a designation we want to deal with,” said BWG Deputy Mayor James Leduc during a council meeting Tuesday evening.
Council voted in favour of deferring the start of a heritage designation process by four weeks in order for town staff to talk to the owner about their plans for the property.
“I’d rather have a willing player at the table. If they’re not willing to work with us, then we designate,” Leduc said. “This will get designated no matter what. This is a very important house in Bradford.”
Since informing the town of the intent to demolish all buildings on the 41-hectare property at 4304-4306 Line 10, just outside Newton Robinson, the owner has decided against tearing them down while he reviews more information about the process, according to Ryan Windle, the town’s manager of community planning.
However, some members of council said they believe the town should move forward with the designation process anyway to protect the house.
“We constantly talk about the heritage in this town and how we risk losing more and more of it all the time. There’s no real point to defer this for it just to come back to us again,” said Coun. Peter Ferragine, who was the lone councillor to vote against deferring the designation process because he wanted to start it now.
“We’re going to designate this property anyway.”
William Earl Rowe was Ontario’s 20th lieutenant governor and a major contributor to Newton Robinson and the Township of West Gwillimbury.
Rowe lived in the farmhouse, an example of Gothic Revival architecture, from 1917 and 1984.
There is an Ontario Heritage Trust Plaque on the property, and his local contributions are commemorated in the naming of Honorable Earl Rowe Public School and Earl Rowe Provincial Park.
Rowe also ran a successful horse breeding and harness racing business, and he and his son, Bill Rowe, were founders of harness race tracks Barrie Raceway and Windsor Raceway.
Currently, no one lives on Rowe’s old property, and it is a liability for the current owner, who has no use for it, Windle told council.
Several councillors shared a concern about the state of the property.
“If nobody invests in it, we’ve got an issue. All you’ve got to do is leave a couple windows open, the back door open. The raccoons will be in there,” said Coun. Gary Lamb. “Two or three or four years from now, the roof may be falling in. It’s tragic, and it’s sitting there wide open.”
What’s the point, Lamb asked, of forcing someone to fix up the house if no one lives there?
Past owners of the property left to live in houses with modern amenities, he said.
“To say that taxpayers should be saving all these structures is very difficult,” he said. “I consider myself a historian, but I don’t want to throw good money at the bad.”
As the town received the demolition notice shortly before Christmas holidays and its new heritage committee has not yet been appointed, it hired Archaeological Research Associates Limited to do a heritage assessment on the property. The firm recommended making a heritage designation.
“This is one property I believe has heritage value. This is worth keeping, worth recognizing,” said Coun. Raj Sandhu.
“We’re not just talking about Bradford’s heritage. (It’s) Ontario’s heritage,” added Leduc.
Town staff will report back to council about the property on March 5.
