HomeMy WebLinkAboutMay 12, 2022 - SpecialAgenda
Heritage Pickering Advisory Committee
Special Meeting
May 12 , 2022
7:00 pm
Electronic Meeting
For information related to accessibility requirements please contact:
Committee Coordinator
905.420.4611
clerks@pickering.ca
Members of the public may observe the meeting proceedings by viewing the livestream.
Page
1
1.Review and Approval of Agenda
2.Disclosure of Interest
3.New Business
3.1 HP 01/22 405 Whitevale Road (the former Blacksmith Shop)
4.Other Business
5.Next Meeting – May 25, 2022
6.Adjournment
Memo
To: Elizabeth Martelluzzi May 5, 2022
Senior Planner, Development Review & Heritage
From: Vince Plouffe
Manager, Facilities Capital Projects
Copy: Director, Community Services
Director, City Development
Director, Operations
Manager, Facilities Maintenance
Manager, Development Review & Urban Design
Coordinator, Park Capital Assets
Subject: Whitevale Park
-Blacksmith Shop Demolition
File: O-8320
The following responses are offered to comments and questions raised at the April 21, 2022
Heritage Advisory Committee meeting regarding the proposed demolition of the derelict
blacksmith shop structure located on the same property as the Whitevale Community Centre at
405 Whitevale Road.
1.Why not fix it?
A lease agreement exists between the City and Whitevale District Residents Association
(WDRA) for the operation and cleaning of the Whitevale Community Centre. Capital repairs
and infrastructure maintenance remain the responsibility of the City. When the structural report
prepared by Barry Bryan Associates was received in 2018, the City met with senior
representatives of the WDRA to review what could be done. The City was not prepared to
invest funds to restore or replace a fully deteriorated structure, preferring to prioritize resources
to maintain the Whitevale Community Centre, replacing the adjacent picnic shelter and
complete repairs to the Whitevale Arts and Cultural Centre.
WDRA committed to providing a proposal to the City within two years, to include a proposed
scope of work and funding to support it. No proposal has been received. It has now been four
years and the structure has deteriorated even further, to an extent that constitutes a potential
public hazard.
2.Why not do more with it?
There is little to nothing left of the building that can reasonably be salvaged. Any effort to
repurpose it would require a full replacement of the existing structure. Given the extent of the
damage, any attempt to do more would begin by removing the existing materials.
- 1 -
May 5, 2022 Page 2 of 2
Whitevale Park – Blacksmith Shop Demolition
3.Why not have it deconstructed rather than demolished?
Most of the wood is completely rotten and the tin roof is heavily corroded. As identified in the
original demolition submission, the City intends to salvage some of the materials, to be
transferred to the Pickering Museum Village for future display and commemoration. It is
unlikely that more than a few individual boards and roof panels would be re-usable in manner
that would be sustainable beyond the short term, if at all. They are beyond end of serviceable
life.
4.Why not save more of it?
Simply put: there is nothing more to save. The structure was in very poor condition when the
original structural assessment and review was completed in 2018. Four years of additional
exposure to the elements has only worsened its deterioration.
5.Whitevale Community has historically been allowed to maintain pieces of heritage
infrastructure and may have interest in participating in preserving it.
The practice of community ‘work bees’ to undertake building repair projects was discontinued
in 2014 due to liability concerns and potential conflicts with the City’s collective agreement with
CUPE union staff, specifically pertaining to Facilities Maintenance.
As noted in #1, above, WDRA were provided with ample opportunity to propose and fund a
solution, but no proposal received. The City remains open to any such proposals, but cannot
allow a potential public safety hazard to remain in place while awaiting a submission.
I will gladly meet with the Heritage Advisory Committee, at their convenience, in order to address
these or any other questions in greater detail. The City has every intention of respecting its own
local history. Unfortunately, this particular structure was already beyond the point of salvage
before this conversation even began, and now constitutes a concern for public safety that can no
longer be deferred.
VP:-
- 2 -