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New signs of heritage appreciation in Bradford West Gwillimbury

The town has unveiled a new Heritage Plaque program for Bradford West Gwillimbury's significant buildings
BWGHeritageplaque
Example of the new Heritage Plaque, adopted by the Town of Bradford West Gwillimbury. SUBMITTED

A new, standardized plaque for heritage buildings in Bradford West Gwillimbury was one of the recommendations of the BWG Heritage Committee during the previous term of council – and it has now been officially launched. 

Committee members wanted to see something that could highlight buildings of architectural or historic interest – as a point of pride for owners, and education for the public.

It took a while for the program to get off the ground, but the Town of BWG recently unveiled its new Heritage Plaque program, which is open to owners of buildings that have been designated, listed on the town’s Heritage Registry, or that are more than 100 years old.

Buildings of other significance – association with a famous person, or outstanding architecture – may also apply for a plaque.

Made of clear acrylic, with secondary graphics in cream, green and blue – the colours of Bradford West Gwillimbury’s official logo – the plaques measure approximately 21.6-by-35.5 centimetres, and are 0.635 cm thick. They are being produced by local company e-Signs Canada. 

"The Heritage Committee reviewed a number of designs and put significant thought into refining the final selection to produce a plaque they believed would be embraced by residents," said Brandon Slopack, planner with the Town of Bradford West Gwillimbury. "Once the design was selected, a number of colour options were exained and the blue and green colour palette – inspired by the colours of the Town logo – was selected by the Heritage Committee as the most visually attractive."

Slopack added, "Committee members believed that the design and the colours would blend nicely with the variety of heritage architecture in town. Staff would like to take this opportunity to recognize the enthusiasm and work of the 2014-2018 Heritage Committee members who helped in the creation of the program." 

Application forms are available online, at townofbwg.com/heritageplaques. The plaques will show the date of construction, significant owner name or historic name of the building, and either the historic owner’s occupation or a municipal address. The website also provides suggestions for researching the history of the building.

It’s up to the owner to apply for a plaque, and to pay for it – $102 plus HST, if he or she is willing to wait until the town has at least four applications at one time, or $144 plus HST for immediate processing. Only a small portion of the fee (approximately $5 to $7 per plaque) will go to the town, to cover staff costs and the administration of the program.

It is also up to the owner to install them. The plaques come with a drill pattern, mounting studs and an instruction sheet. Estimated lifespan of the plaque is 25 years.

Information on the Heritage Plaque program will be available at the Town of BWG booth at the Home & Lifestyle Show at the Bradford and District Memorial Community Centre (old arena) this Saturday, April 27.

“They have the town colours, the font is legible, there’s a sense of liveliness,” said BWG Local History Association member Mikki Nanowski, after viewing the image. “In the future, it might be nice to have a booklet with all the places that have a plaque.”