(PHOTO: Construction equipment in front of the Bradley-Craig barn / January 2016. Photo by Dan Pak.)
Laura Osman reports for CBC Ottawa:
The City of Ottawa is taking Richcraft Homes to court, alleging the builder has neglected to make necessary repairs to a historic barn in the city’s west end.
Two years ago Richcraft got permission from city council to demolish the 145-year-old Bradley-Craig barn in Stittsville and reconstruct it at Saunders Farm, an agricultural tourism site in Munster. The developer plans to build box stores in its place.
But the plan, which sparked fury among some heritage advocates, appears to have fallen through. The demolition permit granted by the city expires on Jan. 28, and Saunders Farm says it hasn’t heard from the builder.
Now those same advocates fear the towering red barn is being left to fall into ruin.
The city is taking Richcraft to court over allegations the builder failed to make necessary repairs to the old barn.
The city filed a property standards order on March 10, 2017, but it was never followed, according to an emailed statement from Stuart Huxley, senior legal counsel for the city.
A charge issued under the Ontario Building Code Act is currently before the Ontario Court of Justice.
Read the full story here, including comments from Bradley descendant Marguerite Evans and Heritage Ottawa’s David Flemming.
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UPDATE:
CBC’s Giacomo Panico interviews StittsvilleCentral.ca editor Glen Gower about the barn:
Every time I go by the barn I think it would make a really cool event hall or recreational clubhouse if someone restored it.
Seems like the developers found out how much moving it costs and would rather take the hit in court as this barn sits decaying in place. Eventually it will be so bad that it will be ‘beyond saving’ and they’ll have won. Developers don’t care about community, they care about money and packing as many money making buildings in a spot as possible. The whole of Kanata is like that, and now it’s coming for you, sadly.
I also don’t care if the barn looks different than surrounding buildings. Different is what gives communities character, and that’s exactly why suburbs fail at having any soul.
I don’t think its fair to say they don’t care the city does put a lot of strain on them we want that we want this etc.
Really really agree with you…you can be sure they will never do what they said they would do….
we see this all the time with developers, they do not care! making $$$$$$ is all they care about. This barn is “precious” to the history of Stittsville & yes, it could stand “different” from other buildings, & put to good use. Think the developer had no intentions of restoring the barn when applying for the land….they just want the land. Do hope someone can repair & restore the Barn.
I really don’t think we want to start telling people who they can and can’t sell to.
As one of my neighbours wrote on Twitter: “In the name of big box, big development + cookie cutter architecture, history suffers and will disappear.”
The City should put a hold on the development of the site until Richcraft holds up their side of the bargain. They were allowed to undertake their plan based on a deal many of us found unacceptable. If they don’t do what they said they would, the whole thing should be off the table.
I’m really tired of developers saying whatever they have to in order to get approvals and then finding ways to get out of it down the road. As long as they face only minor consequences, this won’t stop. If Richcraft doesn’t want to continue working under that agreement, the City should pull all the approvals for the development and Richcraft should have to return the property to its original state before they can ask for approval of a new application.
Totally agree! And thank-you Glen Gower for keeping the community up-to-date on what’s happening with this – it’s so important.
Ana María,
January 18, 2018
Thanks Glen Gower for you input on trying to keep this beautiful Barn, not only in good shape but to keep it in Stittsville.
I am a Stittsville resident, from Mexican Heritage. In Mexico, millions of dollars are spent by the government and private organization, to keep beautiful and historical buildings. I get outraged to see that we in Canada can’t push developers to keep the very few historic buildings alive. As Glen mentioned, there are many different possibilities to use the Barn where it is and not move it to Munster.
I am ashamed of the City of Ottawa, who allows this shameful situations to happen. Canada is a wealthy country, I would think that developers could afford to keep history alive. At the moment, I am in a Mexican city called Queretaro, where wooden doors on houses are older then Canada as a country!
Please let us know what we, as the residents of Stittsville can do, to keep the Barn where it belongs for the future generations to enjoy.