As a city hall committee recommends council approve three more buildings for historic designation in Calgary, Coun. Druh Farrell is calling on the city to work with heritage officials to encourage more property owners to seek the designation.
One of the buildings being put forward for a historic designation is the Church of the Redeemer, on 7 Ave. S.E.
Built in 1905, the sandstone structure is described as one of the most substantial examples of the gothic revival-style of architecture in Calgary.
Farrell said she’s surprised it has taken so long for the owners to seek a municipal designation, as the building was registered as a historic site with the province in 1974.
“We should be doing everything we can of showing the benefit of designation,” she said.
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Farrell would like to see the Calgary Heritage Authority work with heritage planners in the city to identify buildings that have a provincial designation and encourage owners to seek municipal recognition.
The Ward 7 councillor said without designation, some difficult decisions tend to be made.
“We in Calgary have a long history of destroying our heritage, and I’m hoping those days are over or at least coming to an end,” she said.
“We don’t have a lot of our heritage resources left and the ones we do have left, we should be doing what we can to preserve them.”
Coun. Peter Demong said the city should leave it up to property owners to decide whether to seek a historic designation.
“I don’t think it’s something we should actively be doing,” he said.
“I encourage private ownership to come forward and do it, but I don’t think we should spending administration’s time and efforts to do that.”
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Municipal historic resource designation makes a property owner eligible to apply to the City of Calgary’s heritage conservation grant program.
It provides up to $225,000 a year in matching funds for projects that restore, preserve or rehabilitate character-defining elements of a privately owned, designated historic resource.