Can a 150-year-old farmhouse be saved from demolition for another commercial development?
That’s the question members of the Dietrich family are asking concerning the place they grew up in.
A meeting of the Innisfil Heritage committee took place at Town Hall Thursday night to brainstorm over how the six-bedroom stone house dating from 1858 could possibly be preserved.
“My parents bought the 150-acre property on May 15, 1944,” recalls Herb Dietrich, one of eight children of George and Elizabeth Dietrich. “I had just turned seven. They paid $5,100 for it, house, two barns and land.”
The land the house occupies is slated for the new Canadian Tire development on the southeast corner of Innisfil Beach road and the 20th Sideroad.
Ironically, as the future of the former Dietrich house is discussed, demolition crews began tearing down a similar century-old farmhouse, known as the Ness property on the north side of Innisfil Beach Road and the 20th Wednesday afternoon.
The impressive stone homestead inhabited by the Dietrichs was built by Roderick McConkey, the patriarch of a leading Innisfil family at the time.
“What makes the house stand out is the stone work,” says Herb’s brother, Ray Dietrich. “They were laid like brick. There were huge boulders used as footings and the walls were 18 inches thick. It would have taken thousands of hours to have been built by stone masons.”
“We read about the Canadian Tire going in a few weeks ago,” Herb says. “We realized the house was probably going to be demolished. Our kids have expressed a desire to go through the house. They’ve heard lots of stories about the house. We’re not that hopeful we can save it but we’ll give it a kick in the can. We expect an entourage at Thursday night’s meeting.”
Herb’s wife, Patti, has already e-mailed Canadian Tire and its owner Martha Billes, whose family has ties to Innisfil, the Trinity Development Group, the owner of the 10-acre property, and Mayor Brian Jackson seeking help.
The Dietrich family hopes some creative thinking could be the solution.
“Could a store be built adjacent to it and could the house be used for offices?” Ray wonders. “It would be a shame if the house had to go.”
“Maybe by appealing to the developer, we might find someone with a kind heart, or an architect who would see the value of keeping the property,” Herb adds.
A spokesperson for the Town of Innisfil said an individual site could be evaluated for historical purposes and a bylaw brought forward to Council for consideration. If Council approved the proposed bylaw for a particular site, the historic home could be protected.
Donna Wice, past president of the Innisfil Historical Society, said the issue of preserving heritage structures is always “quite controversial. These things require a lot of public funding. Realistically, there are older buildings going down everywhere.”
“There’s often a real emotional attachment to old buildings,” Wice says.
In Innisfil, the only designated historical site is the Knock School Heritage Site, a project the historical society brought to the forefront and received funding from the Trillium Foundation.
“If we hadn’t gotten financial support for the Knock, it would be a decrepit property.”
Wice is not optimistic anything can be done to save the former Dietrich house.
“It’s safe to say some developers move faster than a heritage committee,” she says.
“There has to be a message sent to the Innisfil heritage committee that can some of these buildings be saved. We need to know where does the Town stand on the preservation of old buildings.”
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