Joni Mitchell famously sang “Don’t it aways seem to go, that you don’t know what you got till it’s gone” and those of us here in Windsor know precisely what she meant when she wrote it.

Andrew Foots recent post reminded me of a discussion a bunch of us Walkervillians had a while back regarding pursuing designation of our entire neighbourhood after loosing yet another of our precious heritage buildings. When the Bank of Montreal branch at the corner of Walker and Ottawa Street was threatened with demolition, Andrew and I took advantage of the huge Art in the Park crowds that were invading our historic burgh and made up flyers outlining the threat that our architectural heritage, the very thing that makes Walkerville a one-of-a-kind Windsor neighbourhood, was being exposed to. Fresh on the heels of the illegal Seagrave demolition, this was a conversation many residents and AITP attendees were ready to engage in.

What can be done to preserve the flavour and integrity of an historic district?  This is a question that was asked when the suburban-styled ranch home was built to replace the “Cat House” located at 1040 Windermere Road in Walkerville.  After the neighbours were told that any replacement dwelling would fit into the neighbourhood they awoke to find a squat, single-storey sub-urban type dwelling with no front porch.  The fact that the new home doesn’t even come close to “fitting in” with the rest of he neigbourhood shows that the proud tradition of shunning the “Garden City Movement” planning guidelines that the community was built utilizing remains intact.

“Often it is the elements of a landscape that determine its legibility as a place; the ease with which people can read a space and define it as a unique area. The alignment and grouping of buildings that collectively contribute to the streetscape often makes a significant contribution to the overall character or sense of place on a street. When buildings are of a consistent setback and scale along a street, it can create an uninterrupted rhythm along the street, contributing to the continuity of the landscape fabric. If buildings vary greatly in their scale and setback, it can create discord“,
-from Stantec Engineerings’s 2008 Sandwich Heritage Conservation District Sudy commissioned by the City of Windsor.

This “chipping away” of the character of Walkerville has been going on for decades. A casual stroll around the ‘hood will show you that our current administration has no glaring disregard for the district. The status quo embraced by the city for decades has allowed the erosion to occur very slowly.  Scattered throughout the stately mansions and garden townhomes are examples of 1970’s housing stock (click on all thumbnails for larger images) more appropriate for the early first and second ring suburbs of South Windsor.  All shining examples that the “Laissez Faire” approach to community planning leaves a lot to be desired. 

So, what can be done to preserve the historic character of neighbourhoods such as Walkerville.  According to City Planner Thom Hunt, not a whole heck of a lot.  Recommendations can be made that new infill housing fit certain design elements, set-backs and height guidelines, but nothing that is legally enforceable. 

There are examples of developers and owner/builders who strive to protect the integrity of the neigbourhood in which they ply their trade.  Dr. Dante Capaldi (of Portofino fame) created his Willistead Garden Townhomes development with a sensitive eye towards preserving the historic Monmouth Road neigbourhood.  Anyone who knows of this street and the almost-fundamentalist approach to the community it’s residents have, know that they would have it no other way.  Capaldi met numerous times with the neighbourhood in order to calm their fears (going so far as touring a dozen of the original townhomes), and seeing how he was attempting to rebuild an historic block of original Hiram Walker garden townhouses which burnt to the ground were razed for parking years prior, all his efforts were worth it. 

Over on Devonshire Road, when the owner of another designated historic property wanted to divide his property, his neighbours were also alarmed.  You see, one of the reasons for the historical dedication of that parcel was the magnificent garden that was on the side lot that was going to be divided off for development.   Knowing the whole community would be watching, the new owner hired an architect to design a new home for his family that would blend into the neighbourhood utilizing the same New Urbanist design elements that Walkerville utilized some 100 years ago.  The final product is easily distinguishable as new construction, yet with the expansive front porch and tudor style facade, as well as utilizing the existing wrought iron fence, it pays homage to and respects it’s neighbouring homes. 

Unfortunately, the only power that the community has to protect the character of neighbourhoods such as Walkerville is designation as a Heritage Conservation District (HCD).  A municipality has the ability to designate an individual structure without the consent of the owner (as happened with the Lowe/Martin house), and as well the designation of a HCD does not require the consent of a majority of residents.  As you could imagine, however, that the more people involved in a process such as this, the higher the political charge and it turns into mini-confidence vote on the ward councilors.  Despite the evidence that points to the fact that not only do the majority of real estate values within the HCD actually INCREASE with designation, and the homeowners retain much autonomy when it comes to alterations of their dwellings, political spin and ignorance keeps area residents from seeing the many benefits to desigation and lobby hard against designation.  This is precisely what happened when city administration lead the charge to designate Walkerville back in the early 1990’s.  Afraid of the big spectre of government micro-managing their lives, area residents lobbied hard and won their fight against heritage desigation.  It is this writers opinion that feelings may have changed since that last attempt and it is time to reopen the Walkerville HCD file and let an informed resident-led association lead the way towards the preservation of the historic nature of Olde Walkerville.

This Monday may just show us how the process plays out in real life.  Going before council is PAC Item 1, the Sandwich Heritage Conservation District Study that has the opportunity to preserve key aspects (both residential as well as commercial) of the oldest continually inhabited borough west of Montreal.  The Sandwich HCD should not be confused with the Sandwich Community Improvement Plan (CIP).  CIPs are intended to act as a stimulus for private investment in a district, whereas HCDs act to preserve the historic character that is already there.  There’s so much activity happening in Olde Sandwich, it is sometimes difficult to distinguish between the different proposals.

I urge everyone to do some reading this weekend.  Read through the Stantec report to gain some appreciation for what many of us Windsorites might take for granted - that we have a jewel in the west end of this city that needs preservation.  The documentation also outlines the heroic lengths neigbourhood residents have gone through for years to shine the spotlight on Olde Sandwich and the special community they are the caretakers of for future generations.  They deserve our collective support, and all our city councilors need to know that by establishing an HCD in Sandwich will benefit not only historic Sandwich, but the entire city as a whole. 

Want to play an active part in the conversation?  Andrew and I are lucky enough to have Windsor City Planner Thom Hunt join us in-studio for the whole ScaleDown Radio hour this Monday, as well as having Dr. Dante Capaldi conduct a telephone interview.  Listen in to CJAM 91.5 FM from noon ’till 1:00 to hear what Thom has to say on these and other topics.  Want more?  We welcome your phone calls as well.  In Windsor, dial 519.971.3630, or in Detroit call us toll-free at 963.6112, extension 3630

Tags: City Council, community improvement plan, PAC, planning department, ScaleDown Radio, walkerville