A growing number of people in southwestern Ontario are hoping they can save a pre-Confederation home from being bulldozed and will make a last-minute appeal to local politicians next week.
A developer wants to demolish the building known as Elgin Hall to make way for a subdivision in Mount Elgin, a small village east of London, Ontario. On August 9, local residents will ask South West Oxford councilors to save the building from demolition by giving it special heritage designation.
“It was built by oxen carrying bricks from a brickyard in London in 1850,” said Garth Turner, a former member of parliament and cabinet minister who has family links to the home. “It’s very historic. It’s beautiful, Georgian architecture.”
Mt. Elgin Development Inc., along with GSP Group, is proposing to build a 175-lot subdivision in the village, including six new local streets.
One of these roads will pass through the Elgin Hall property.
“When I found out it was going to be torn down, oh my God, it was heartbreaking,” Turner said.
Garth Turner in 1953 in the lounge of Elgin Hall. Turner’s great-grandfather, Ebenezer Vining Bodwell, was the first owner of the house and the first Member of Parliament for South Oxford. (Submitted by Debbie Kasman)
The home was first built for Turner’s great-grandfather Ebenezer Vining Bodwell, who was the first Member of Parliament for South Oxford in the John A. Macdonald government and also Superintendent of the Welland Canal from 1875-1879.
Turner, an investment adviser who has worked to save heritage buildings in the past, offered to buy the property from the developer but was turned down, he said.
“It’s steeped in Canadian history,” said Turner, whose mother was born in the home and married on the front lawn. “It’s definitely part of the evolving legacy and creation, birth and infrastructure of early Canada. I think it should be preserved.”
Elgin Hall was built for Ebenezer Vining Bodwell in 1850. He was the first Member of Parliament for South Oxford. (Submitted by Debbie Kasman)
“Crime Against History”
“It seems to me that an enlightened developer would take a magnificent old historic landmark and incorporate it into a new subdivision,” Turner said. “Maybe as a community center, maybe as a restaurant, but the most important thing is not to demolish the thing and turn it into an access road.
“I think it’s a crime against history.
CBC News contacted GSP Group’s Chris Pidgeon, the registered agent for the subdivision proposal, but he declined to comment on any efforts to save Elgin Hall.
“It’s a big yellow brick house that I’m actually partial to, but there are a number of other yellow brick houses probably of the same vintage in the community,” said Southwest Oxford Mayor David Mayberry.
“We see old houses, barns, being removed somewhat regularly as a building is created that serves a more current need,” he said. “Does society really want this and to what extent are they willing to directly or indirectly invest in it?”
In a small village in Southwestern Ontario, Mount Elgin, is my family’s former home, Elgin Hall. A 170-year-old Georgian brick house with historic significance and in just over a week could be approved to be bulldozed to make way for a road to connect two subdivisions. 1/7 pic.twitter.com/1dfH2vfPUl
—@DrSarahMcLean
It’s up to the council to decide if the home is in good enough condition to be saved, said Ward 3 Coun. Valerie Durston.
“Am I inclined to save it? It’s not up to me,” she said. “We’ll see what happens. It’s certainly up in the air at this point.”
London Morning6:52 Should progress continue at the expense of history?
London Morning caught up with investment adviser Garth Turner to find out why he is trying to stop a developer from knocking down a two-storey yellow brick building in Mount Elgin.
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