A proposal to give the Nimmons Residence, built in 1898, a historic designation has been given the green light by a city committee.
The report to the Planning and Urban Development Committee claims the property is one of the earliest brick buildings in Calgary to use red brick, rather than the more common buff-coloured brick.
It is also said to be the first house in the Bankview area and a rare surviving ranch house in the city.
The Queen Anne revival-style home sits on an elevated corner of 14 Street S.W. and 18 Avenue S.W.
The brick house sits on a huge lot and there have been proposals to redevelop the land, which might mean moving the home to a different location on the property.
Coun. Gian-Carlo Carra said Monday he’s OK with moving the home because he believes it will mean city administration can make land-use changes without the owners of the Nimmons Residence having to ask for removal of the historic resource designation.
“De-designating a heritage asset is not something we want to get into the habit of doing because it cheapens the idea of actually designating heritage,” he said.
WATCH BELOW: Unexpected images of Calgary in the 1890s
Carra wasn’t happy with what occurred in Eau Claire when council removed the municipal historic resource designation on the smokestack to allow it to be moved as part of the redevelopment of the Eau Claire market.
“We have to create a system where the legal weight of land-use and the ‘devil is in the details, nuts and bolts’ of the development permit have to live much more closely aligned,” he said. ” And we’ll see a lot less concern and fear and a lot more collaboration if we get a system that does that.”