Save the Yellow Heritage House of Wildfield

01/22/2020

https://www.bramptonguardian.com/news-story/9809932-plan-to-demolish-brampton-heritage-home-moves-ahead/?previewkey=eaaaaiddehhx0bny0ikeurd40fcsoc6qup%2fyquhc%2fpammqih&fbclid=iwar2mobmnw18dm0dc0b4pbyzpmifzdq8zyxci6waevx4wj9trxs6pkov2154

01/15/2020

https://justsayincaledon.com/demoltion-the-only-option-wildfield-heritage-house/

Read the original Just Sayin’ Caledon story by Dan O’Reilly here With the exception of St. Patrick’s Church, the 1870s yellow brick house at 11962 The Gore Road in Wildfield is, or was, the hamlet’s only remaining historic dwelling. Before this winter is over, it will have been razed. On Jan...

01/11/2020

WILDFIELD HERITAGE HOUSE TO BE DEMOLISHED

With the exception of St. Patrick’s Church, the yellow brick house at 11962 The Gore Road was Wildfield’s is onlyi remaining historic dwelling. By this spring it will have been razed.

On January 9th January Peel Region Council was told efforts by regional and Heritage Brampton officials to find a new site for the building had been exhausted and that demolition was the only option.

Located across the road from St. Patrick’s Church at the southwest intersection of Mayfield and Gore Roads, the house stands in the way of the imminent expansion of the Gore Road. As the expanded road had to swing west to avoid impacting St. Patrick’s Cemetery, it either has to be moved or demolished.

Last summer the Region, which purchased and boarded up the house years ago, and placed “Move This House” signs on the property.

No Expressions of Interest were received and last October a regional motion to demolish the building was approved by the Brampton Heritage Board, even though it was on the city’s Municipal Register of Cultural Resources.

In a last-ditch effort to save the building, Wildfield resident Dan O'Reilly contacted Candevcon Limited Consulting Engineers & Planners to determine if there was a possibility the house could be relocated to a lot in Wildfield’s Vales of the Humber subdivision. He also asked Peel Region to assume the entire relocation costs as an incentive for a buyer to conclude a lot purchase agreement with a developer in the subdivsion.

Unfortunately, a suitable lot could not be found and a request by parish priest Rev. Vito Marziliano to move the house on to church property was vetoed by the Archdiocese of Toronto.

Once the site of a blacksmith shop, the house was the home of veteran Toronto Gore Township clerk Nicholas Harrison from the early 1920s to his death in 1933. He had been clerk for 50 years.

01/04/2020

The following is some background on the issues dealing with Wildfield Heritage House and why this page has been created.

• Brampton considers the house to have historic and architectural merit.

• In early October, however, the Brampton Heritage Board approved a request by Peel Region, which owns the house, to demolish the house to make way for the expansion of the Gore Road. There was apparently no interest by private individuals in moving the building to a new site.

• In early December Wildfield resident Dan O’Reilly appeared as delegate to Peel Region Council and proposed a plan to move the house to a lot in the new subdivisions (known as the Vales of Humber) behind St. Patrick’s School.

• He requested Peel to absorb the entire relocation costs as incentive for a custom or niche home builder or even a private individual to conclude a lot purchase agreement with one of the Vales of Humber developers and then move the house to the lot. The cost of moving the house is well over $1 million.

• If that request is ultimately denied the house will undoubtedly demolished. A potential custom home buyer won’t be interested if they have to pay the moving costs, buy a lot, excavate a new foundation, plus undertake all the other upgrading costs. The financial risk would be too great.

• That is why it is crucial for people who care about heritage issues send emails to Regional Councillors asking that asking that house be saved. A short email will suffice, but a well-thought out letter expressing the writer’s emotional attachment to preserving built heritage will have more impact.

This appeal does not, and should not, be restricted to people living in the immediate area. Anyone, even if they live in another part of the country, can comment on this issue.

• The person to send an email to is the local Brampton councillor Gurpreet Dhillon at: [email protected] A copy should also be sent to Councillor Paul Vicente who has expressed some interest in saving the house. His email address is [email protected]

• Bottom line is if followers of this page don’t come forward the house will be lost and it will be more nail in the coffin of Wildfield’s history.

01/02/2020

Here is the Brampton Guardian article

Residents of Brampton's Wildfield community believe every effort should be made to save a 19th-century home on The Gore Road the Region of Peel has...

12/29/2019

Peel Region is expected to decide early next month whether to save one of the last vestiges of a Victorian-era village.

12/24/2019

Editorial note: This is a speech Wildfield resident Dan O’Reilly delivered to Peel region council on Dec. 12. Thank you mister chair and members of council: Earlier this fall, the Brampton...