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HomeMy WebLinkAbout325"Article copied from the News Advertiser, Friday, April 5, 2002, page 10, written by Michael Pelham. Restorations by the Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA) on the Bentley house at Brock Road and Hwy. 7 in Brougham, which dates back to 1853, are well under way and will be completed this spring. It will be home to the GTAA's public consulting office, where local residents can give feedback on the plan to build an airport in north Pickering. ""It certainly supports our needs in terms of size and general public availability,"" said Peter Gregg, general manager of communications for the GTAA. ""It's also an opportunity to restore a significant building in the area."" The decision to build an airport hasn't yet been determined. First, said Mr. Gregg, the GTAA must complete a ""business case"" to determine if there is a need. Airport or not, local historians are content with having the prominent, but ailing house, get a facelift to look as it did in its youth. The house was built by William Bentley, a pharmacologist, known then as a ""pill peddler"", and later owned by Donald Gibson. ""The Bentley-Gibson House is extremely important,"" said local historian John Sabean. ""It's an easily recognizable building. It's become one building beyond all others most people associate with Pickering. It's a symbol of Pickering."" Besides being used as a logo at times because of its familiarity, Mr. Sabean said its historical significance also lies in its location. On the four corners in Brougham, a politically important spot for most of the town's history, it is almost at the geographical centre of the town The Bentley family profession of medicine was also important at the time. ""The early (medicine) industry was an important institution,"" Mr. Sabean said. ""When you didn't have drug stores, you'd go to a peddler."" Architecturally, the house is notable for its ""mish-mash"" of styles, which include Georgian, Italian and classical designs. ""(The GTAA) have been quite good about preserving the history,"" said Mr. Sabean. ""One thing that we're trying very hard to do here is maintain the integrity of the house,"" noted Ian Nicoll, architect for the GTAA. He was speaking at a media open house March 27. A goal for Mr. Nicoll is to ""fit the requirements for a community office and at the same time respect the building for its content"". Some contemporary changes had to be made; such as electricity and plumbing instalments - the upstairs has a bathroom that wouldn't have been there originally. The GTAA is spending $500,000 on the restoration. Janet Mehak, of Heritage Pickering and a city resident for 22 years, is delighted with the preservation, recognized as a federal heritage building. Along with Mr. Sabean and other historians, she was shown what restorations were being done to the house in the early stages of the project and has no complaints. ""So much of Brougham has disappeared,"" Ms. Mehak said. ""This is one thing left over that's prominent."" Knowing that future generations will be able to appreciate this community's history is reassuring. ""Pickering is so new, some people don't realize its history. There's a lot of history there."" "