Winnipeg’s Exchange District listed as threatened historical architecture

The Heritage Canada Foundation (HCF) on Wednesday released lists of the top endangered and lost architectural and heritage sites across the country, in hopes of bringing attention to the fight for preservation.

The list of endangered places, compiled using nominations and news coverage, includes Canada’s lighthouses. The government earlier this year deemed nearly 1,000 lighthouses surplus, meaning the iconic structures could be replaced with simpler structures that are easier to maintain.

Also on the list of endangered places are two Vancouver-area secondary schools which face demolition because of provincial seismic upgrading.

The HCF is a national non-profit organization that strives to promote the preservation of Canada’s historic buildings and places.

The Top Ten Endangered Places List

– Canada’s Lighthouses – Department of Fisheries and Oceans decision to declare virtually all its lighthouses surplus emasculates the new Heritage Lighthouse Protection Act

– Kitsilano Senior Secondary and Vancouver schools, Vancouver – Provincial seismic upgrade funding is being used to replace rather than upgrade historic schools-a seismic shakedown

– Calgary Brewing and Malting Co. – Four of the site’s oldest buildings threatened with demolition with no redevelopment plan in place

– Exchange District, Winnipeg – Unrivalled turn-of-the-century concentration of buildings succumbing to parking lots and megaprojects

– Views of Ontario Legislative Assembly Building, Queen’s Park, Toronto – A massive precedent-setting condo tower project will erase iconic silhouette

– Lansdowne Park, Ottawa – Massive redevelopment project incompatible with heritage of 142-year-old park

– Porter/McKinley Block, Ridgetown, Ont. – A designated heritage landmark

– Redpath Mansion, Montreal – Last vestige of city’s famed Square Mile is hovering on the brink of collapse

– "Company Houses" of Industrial Cape Breton, N.S. – The once prolific workers cottages are suffering from neglect, abandonment, and vandalism

– St. Philip’s Anglican Church, Portugal Cove, St. Phillip’s, NL – The 115-year-old "Church By The Sea" in need of salvation