News Release Archive
HOUSING/MUNICIPAL AFFAIRS--REGISTERING HERITAGE PROPERTY ----------------------------------------------------------------- "The past belongs to everyone: the need to return home, to recall the view, to refresh a memory, to retrace a heritage, is universal and essential." - David Lowenthal, Historian Edmund Power Flynn, Richmond County's first coroner, would take pride in knowing his New England-style Colonial remains a fixture in Arichat over 130 years after he built it. A Gothic-inspired carriage-making shop in Antigonish County has been keeping watch over Lochaber Lake since the 1860s. And, a church with the distinctive roof stylings of the 11th century Rhineland continues to add a touch of the medieval to rural Baddeck. Historical sites and buildings spark the imagination, are a reminder of a simpler time, educate people to the ways of the past and inspire with their beauty. The Manson House in North Lochaber, Antigonish County, Flynn-Cutler-Robichaud House in Arichat and The Church of Saint Peter and Saint John in Baddeck are no exception. These are just some of the many provincially-registered properties across Nova Scotia, designated under the Heritage Property Act. The act, proclaimed in 1980 and administered by the Department of Housing and Municipal Affairs, provides for the designation, preservation, protection, and in some cases, rehabilitation of built heritage in Nova Scotia. Although private homes make up the largest category, the term can also be applied to churches, train stations, barns, industrial sites, schools, historic gardens, bridges and lighthouses. Some better-known provincial heritage sites include Province House, Government House and the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia in Halifax. But rural Nova Scotia also boasts some of the finest examples of historically significant properties in the province, from the oldest documented house in english-speaking Canada in Annapolis County, to the oldest standing courthouse in Canada, in Tusket, Yarmouth County. "It's important that a society protects and preserves its architectural monuments because they remind us of who we were, who we are and who we might become," said Housing and Municipal Affairs Minister Sandy Jolly. "Architectural monuments, whether historic Province House in Halifax or a small village church, establish and maintain our identity as a community and a society." Eight members of the minister's Advisory Council on Heritage Property, along with provincial heritage staff, will tour Antigonish, Inverness, Victoria and Richmond Counties in June, visiting local property registered under the Heritage Act. The Council is appointed to advise the minister on the registration of heritage properties. Members include historian Dr. Neil Boucher; superintendent of the Fortress of Louisbourg Bill O'Shea; former municipal heritage committee chair Janice Gill; lawyer Diane Thompson-Sheppard, retired Technical University of Nova Scotia architecture professor Kent Hurley, municipal heritage workers Laurent D'Entrement and Ann Trask-Fulde, and Rev. Hazen Parent. A heritage property can be registered by the province, the municipality, or sometimes both. Since 1980, 206 heritage properties have been provincially registered. Fifty municipalities have adopted by-laws and collectively registered nearly 1000 sites of regional significance. Age alone is not a determining factor for provincial registration. In many cases, registration may depend on a property's association with people, places, events or activities that play a role in shaping Nova Scotia's history or culture. Preserving a community's built heritage can bring a variety of benefits to the area. Besides the imaginative or spiritual value a property may provide, there are practical reasons for protecting old buildings. "In Nova Scotia, our heritage and culture, as illustrated by historic sites, continues to be a major tourist draw. These buildings are valuable not only as a backdrop, or scenery, but in their functionality as restaurants, bars, inns, shops and offices," said Ms. Jolly. Anyone who thinks they may own a historically significant property, may contact the Department of Housing and Municipal Affairs, PO Box 216, Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3J 2M4. Properties are assessed on history and culture, architecture, context, landmark and integrity. The province may provide financial assistance to owners of both provincially and municipally registered heritage properties. -30- Contact: Wayde Brown 902-424-5647 trp May 29, 1996 - 11:35 a.m.