Days after it was given heritage distinction from London city council, a historic barn in Byron has been demolished.
It was around 9:30 p.m. Thursday when neighbours of 247 Halls Mill Road in Byron were drawn to the property after hearing sounds of heavy equipment and snapping lumber in the darkness.
“The property owner was standing there, and there was a bulldozer with its lights turned off, bulldozing down the barn in the dark.”
Parks said she spoke with the homeowner briefly during the commotion Thursday night, asking if he was demolishing the barn. She said he replied with “what does it look like” and told her to leave the property.
“The sounds of the barn going down was awful, it was so dark, there was no light from the bulldozer, that alone is so dangerous.”
Referring to it as a bulldozer, she recalled a machine with a bucket on the front, and a “scooping-arm” at the back, like a backhoe.
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Global News reached out to the homeowner, John McLeod, who declined to comment.
The city, meanwhile, says it won’t be responding to requests for comment until more information is available.
“We take this very seriously,” said deputy chief building official Peter Kokkoros.
“We are launching a full investigation this morning to ensure we have all of the details about what happened last evening. Until we have that information, we won’t be providing any further comment on this.”
Parks said that the homeowner previously tried to show her what he wanted to do in place of the barn, but she wasn’t interested, stressing that it was neighbours and not the homeowner who had been fighting for a heritage designation for the barn.
Parks is concerned about what this could mean for other properties with a heritage distinction and says if there are no repercussions it could set a dangerous precedent.
“We went through the proper process, and then they voted on it in council, so all the councillors in the city voted on it, and then this happens,” she said.
“…Are they just going to allow this to happen again, if a developer buys up a historic property and the city says you can’t do it, just going ahead and doing it?”
Council voted to give the barn heritage distinction during the meeting Tuesday, which was met with cheers from local activists. McLeod was not as supportive of the decision.
During a debate at last week’s planning committee meeting, McLeod referred to the heritage distinction as “complete stupidity.”
According to Parks, the homeowner disobeyed two previous stop demolition orders from the city of London.
“We were just all stunned, watching it last night, all the neighbours were there we all watched it, one of the neighbours was crying,” said Parks.
“Just the blatant disregard for the laws, it just doesn’t make sense.”
Parks said her family has lived in the home since the 1950s.
As for which next steps she plans to take, she says she’ll leave it with the city, and hopes they can address the issue.
— with files from Global News Radio 980 CFPL’s Jacquelyn LeBel.
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