It is with a great amount of concern and disgust that I write this letter regarding the demolition of the Ness-Adair house on the northeast corner of Innisfil Beach Road and the 20th Sideroad. The demolition was a completely inexcusable act.

The Innisfil Heritage Committee has been in existence for three and a half years. I have been attending meetings for the past five months and have observed that the committee is only now determining their term of office and learning terminology regarding the usual process of provincial heritage designation, which includes an inventory, registry and designation.  
As a result, the Ness-Adair property was never flagged for potential heritage preservation even though members of the committee must have known the property was owned by developers and had the potential for demolition. At least six months ago Dr. David Chambers wrote a letter to the mayor and the committee regarding the precarious existence of the Ness-Adair House. At the March 6 meeting of the Innisfil Heritage Committee, I was told that there was no hope of saving this house at his late date. That is not surprising since there had been absolutely no preservation efforts made in the last three and a half years.

Does the demolition of the Ness-Adair house represent Innisfil Council’s apathy for the preservation of our community’s built heritage? To have permitted the demolition of this house and made no attempt to preserve it is irresponsible, disgraceful and incomprehensible.

The Innisfil planning department has been negligent in not planning for the retention of that house. It is imperative that someone with an interest in heritage preservation represent the planning department immediately on the Innisfil Heritage Committee so that the committee will be advised of any impending rezoning or redevelopment plans.

The developer that committed the irresponsible act of demolishing the Ness-Adair house is a poor corporate citizen. Even though he was legally entitled to demolish the house, he should have confirmed whether there was any interest in preservation of it.  It is obvious that he had no interest in the community and his only interest was financial gain. The community must bear the loss. We do not need developers with that attitude building our community!  No amount of money will replace the house.  I request that the developer receive a letter of admonishment from Innisfil council.  As a taxpayer, I am entitled to this consideration.
At the April 3, 2008 meeting of the Innisfil Heritage Committee, Mr. Rymell, chairperson of the Innisfil Heritage Committee confirmed that there is no demolition permit required throughout the province for demolition of rural buildings and this issue is within provincial, rather than municipal jurisdiction. This policy is detrimental to the preservation of heritage structures. When I suggested to the Innisfil Heritage Committee that they become proactive in having the current demolition policy changed, it declined and suggested that I could write my own letter.  Why is the heritage committee so negative in securing a process that would aid them in heritage preservation?  Is heritage preservation not the mandate of the Heritage Committee? Can Innisfil not pass a municipal bylaw requiring a demolition permit within Innisfil, regardless of whether or not the building is located in a rural or urban area?

If you are not aware, and you should be aware, the potential of a similar situation to the Ness-Adair house demolition exists with the stone house on the southeast corner of Innisfil Beach Road and 20th Sideroad.  Mr. Gregory currently owns it.  Pending approval, the property is currently slated for imminent redevelopment for the construction of a Canadian Tire store.  At the April 3 meeting of the Heritage Committee, I learned that nothing has been done to secure its preservation.  Mr. Gregory addressed that meeting and indicated that he would like to see the house preserved and is willing to co-operate to that end before the house passes from his ownership.  Counc. Bill Pring indicated that he would investigate the matter further. Your intervention in this process is essential to secure a successful preservation, yet not to the detriment of Mr. Gregory.   

I am fully aware that all buildings cannot be saved. Barbara Potma, a new member of the Innisfil Heritage Committee, presented a motion that received passage regarding investigating the possibility of acquiring a site within Innisfil for locating a heritage subdivision similar to the subdivision existing in Markham. This motion was long overdue. A heritage subdivision would provide an opportunity for interested parties to relocate heritage homes that cannot be preserved in their original location. Implementation of this motion should be expedited immediately and a site secured.  I know of a least one party interested in investigating the opportunity to relocate the Gregory home if a suitable location is available in Innisfil. I would be happy to provide further information upon request. That interested party had also viewed the exterior of the Ness-Adair house and was interested in investigating the removal and preservation of it, had it been given the opportunity.

The intersection of Innisfil Beach Road and 20th Sideroad was referred to at the April 3 Innisfil Heritage meeting as “The Gateway to Alcona”.  Instead of a stone heritage home gracing either side of the road entering Alcona, we currently have planned a No Frills grocery store that architecturally can be described as non descript at best and a Canadian Tire store.  How much more unattractive and generic can that “gateway” become, or is unattractiveness the intent?
The residential subdivisions with “cookie cutter” houses that are being built in Innisfil provide no sense of unique character within our community. It is the present preservation of our past that creates a unique sense of character, identity and continuity for the future in any community including Innisfil.  The developers should work actively with the planners and heritage committee to preserve heritage, thereby creating an asset for Innisfil and not regard preservation as a liability. The decisions that we make today will be here to stay long after developers have made their profit at our community’s expense and left the area.                    

Our community should have a well-planned proactive preservation agenda in place with a supportive council to assure that the preservation of Innisfil’s natural and built heritage is accomplished. This agenda is currently not evident to me and I have absolutely no confidence that my community has a serious commitment to heritage preservation, not withstanding publication of the excellent book Farms of Innisfil and preservation of the Knock school.  As mayor and council members of this municipality you have been entrusted with the responsibility of ensuring to me and other Innisfil residents that there is a proactive preservation agenda in place and that it is being implemented.  To date you have failed in these efforts. It is not enough to assume that a Heritage Committee will assume that responsibility alone.

With the development that is taking place in Innisfil partially due to the moratorium on development on the Oak Ridges Moraine, heritage preservation expediency is paramount to prevent a community from becoming desolate of any identity. With the rich heritage resources of Innisfil, our community has the potential of taking some leadership in the area of balancing growth with heritage preservation, making it an asset to form a “complete community” as outlined in the Simcoe County terms of reference for infrastructure growth.

Randall Reid
Innisfil