Built Heritage

I grew up admiring the historic homes in my hometown of Brigus, and now I’m delighted to have finally moved into a row house from 1875. Built heritage has an intrinsic value for me; but even apart from that, it makes the City an attractive place to live, work, and visit. The new Heritage Bylaw gives Council more tools to protect our cherished heritage, together with the Envision Municipal Plan and development regulations.

In my first term, we increased grants for heritage restoration and saw an increase in applications and total money given out for these grants. We approved the heritage designation of several buildings in order to facilitate adaptive re-use for businesses such as the Parlour on Military Rd, and the Georgestown Inn on Bonaventure Avenue. We gave out heritage awards to many local properties to recognize the hard work their owners put in to preserve the built environment we all love and cherish.

• I will continue to promote and protect St. John’s built heritage.
• I will prioritize getting the City’s first ever Heritage Plan and Downtown Secondary Plan done.
• I will continue to work on Heritage Policy to address issues such as the demolition of old buildings that were not designated.
• I will encourage the designation of more heritage buildings.
• I will look at what we can do to designate and support rural historic buildings in areas of the City that have been traditionally left out of the conversation of built heritage.
• I will advocate for a further increase in grants for preservation and restoration of heritage buildings and maintenance grants for homes in heritage areas, with an eye to supporting affordability in the downtown.
• I will seek to expand the heritage areas we currently have.
• I will look for ways to better commemorate the built heritage that we have lost.