This week the City of Calgary moved to protect another piece of its history. Councillors voted to designate Wild Rose United Church as a municipal heritage resource.
The building, in the community of Crescent Heights, dates back to 1930.
It is one of six structures to receive the municipal designation this year. In a city of more than a million people, Calgary has just 74 municipally designated heritage sites. When you include sites protected by the province, that number jumps to just over 100.
So how does Calgary stack up against other cities when it comes to protecting historic buildings and landmarks?
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Ottawa – Canada’s capital city – has a smaller population than Calgary and has over 300 heritage sites and 18 heritage districts. Vancouver is about double it’s population and has almost 900 protected landmarks as well as a handful of heritage districts – such as Gastown. Toronto has 20 heritage districts and about 4,500 heritage sites.
Heritage management consultant Marilyn Williams said heritage districts are “where you get the real benefits.”
“They attract tourism and attract local jobs,” she explained.
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Calgary has no heritage districts – unless you count Stephen Avenue, which is a national historic site.
Williams said the restrictive law governing heritage resources in Alberta is holding Calgary back. She explained that’s because the site’s owner must apply for it to be protected before the city or province can act.
“The city can’t make the owner designate their building,” conservation architect James Reid explained. “Most of the time I think the city is hoping the owner will designate so that the site can be looked after.”
Reid said a historic designation in Alberta entitles the owner to grant money for maintenance and rehabilitation. The city pitches in 50 per cent of the costs and the province contributes 30 per cent. He said that’s something not all provinces deliver on.
Money may help convince owners to sign on but Williams told Global News more needs to be done and the benefits of protecting Calgary’s heritage need to be made clear.
She said heritage conservation boosts property values, creates jobs and keeps construction materials out of the landfill. And heritage buildings help connect us to our past.
“These places, they give us our roots and they connect us to the folks that were here before us.”
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