11/20/2023
I'm sorry to inform everyone who has been interested in saving Campbell House that our group can no longer see a way forward. If you read the article in The Independent ("Campbell House 'not salvageable': Conservation authority looks to appeal denial of building permit," November 2, 2023) and saw Dawn McNally's response a week later, you will understand that the St. Clair Conservation Authority Board is determined to demolish the building, rather than work with our group to restore it. We asked for a meeting with representatives of the SCRCA and the Municipality last week in an effort to put an end to misinformation and adversarial rhetoric and find a constructive path toward securing the building and undertaking critical structural repairs to prevent the loss of this rich cultural heritage asset. The concern about insurance and liability costs, both by the SCRCA and the Municipality, has eclipsed any consideration of the cultural heritage value of the House and of Archie Campbell's legacy. We asked for a three-year moratorium on demolition while we launched a fundraising campaign. While the majority of Council favoured the moratorium and voted to turn down the SCRCA's request for a demolition permit, the SCRCA board countered with instructions to management to appeal. They also made it clear to the Municipality that any costs would be passed along in future levies; the Municipality in turn threatened to pass along any costs they incurred to our unincorporated group (making the officers personally liable). We cannot in good conscience proceed with raising funds while the threat of demolition remains on the table.
We are at the end of the road. I'm pasting below the letter I sent on behalf of the Friends of Campbell Park to Brooke-Alvinston Mayor and Council for discussion at Thursday's (23rd Nov.) Council meeting.
To Mayor & Council:
I am writing on behalf of the Friends of Campbell Park to express our extreme disappointment with the St. Clair Region Conservation Authority’s intimidation tactics to derail Municipal support for our group’s efforts to save A.W. Campbell House from demolition, and the unwillingness of both the SCRCA and the Municipality to work with us to raise funds for its restoration.
Despite the support of the majority of Council members for a three-year moratorium on demolition of Campbell House, our meeting on Tuesday, November 14th, 2023, with Mayor Ferguson, Janet Denkers, SCRCA GM Ken Phillips, and SCRCA Conservation Areas Manager Greg Wilcox revealed the following:
• Both Mayor Ferguson and Ken Phillips consider the request for a demolition permit “complete” despite the absence of key elements of a demolition request set out in the Heritage Act (O.Reg. 385/21, sec. 6): site map, photographs, technical heritage studies (usually referred to as CHIA or Cultural Heritage Impact Assessment conducted by a heritage professional). Although Council denied the request, this has opened the door to SCRCA to appeal the decision without providing the cited materials.
• Although the onus for providing these elements lies with the building’s owner (SCRCA), when I asked about the heritage assessment, Ken Phillips’s response was “Who will pay for that? Will you pay for that?” It then also became clear (confirming Janet Denkers’s Staff Report to Council dated 28 September 2023) that “it should be recognized that costs associated with its [Campbell House’s] stability will be passed to the Municipality through future levies from the SCRCA.” Mayor Ferguson stated that the Municipality cannot tolerate these additional levies and that our group (Friends of Campbell House, which is unincorporated) would be accountable for any costs related to Campbell House, i.e., we would be personally liable.
• Dawn McNally asked why the revenues from the trailer camp sites couldn’t cover costs related to Campbell House. Both Mayor Ferguson and Greg Wilcox described Campbell House as a Category 2 service (funded by the Municipality; Category 3 would be self-funding); however, we have been advised this is doubtful unless specifically requested by the Municipality.
• When we requested more time to contact the community (there are 995 signatures on the online petition supporting saving Campbell House (https://www.change.org/.../st-clair-region-conservation...), we were told by Greg he needed to move on the appeal before their next board meeting on December 7th.
• Janet said Council had asked her to ask us three questions:
o Have the Friends of Campbell House incorporated and applied for registered charity status? The answer is not yet. We have been waiting for a definitive moratorium on demolition. We were also exploring creating a designated fund administered by the Sarnia Community Foundation.
o How much money have we raised? As stated repeatedly, it would be irresponsible to launch a fundraising campaign before the threat of demolition is taken off the table. A donation of $1000 from the mayor for shingles and other necessary materials for immediate roof repair in January/February 2022 went directly to the roofer; the roofer donated his labour in kind; a $300 donation to Ontario Architectural Conservancy provided us with the volunteer advice of Thor Dingman, a heritage professional; a donated Zoom account ($200 x 2 years) has allowed our group to meet online since January 2022. When the online petition was started, Liana Russwurm received several pledges; follow-up on these awaited the launch of a full fundraising campaign.
o What are the names of our Board of Directors? We are a loosely organized group of volunteers, anchored by Dawn McNally, President; Kevin Edwards, Vice-President; Kathy Shailer, Secretary; Liana Russwurm, Treasurer and Chief Fundraiser. These positions were about to turn over and be formalized when we incorporated as a not-for-profit. Attendees are cc’d below. Please note that Greg Wilcox was invited and attended some meetings during the first half of 2022.
We are distressed that major decisions regarding Campbell House have been made, both by SCRCA and the Municipality with incomplete information. Yes, we are all aware that the building needs attention as soon as possible and both the list of deficiencies noted by the Lambton County Building Inspector in the spring of 2022 and the full report of VDP Engineering in October 2022 indicate the extent of deterioration of the building. However, an inspection and assessment by a heritage professional has still not been conducted and would constitute crucial intelligence for proceeding either with restoration or with demolition. Without such a specialized assessment, statements about the safety, structural viability, and restoration costs are at best guesswork, at worst fearmongering. Our mission and goals document of February 2022 laid out the steps we would take, including contracting a detailed heritage inspection; excerpts of this document have been posted on the Friends of Campbell House Facebook site and were included in the slide show presented to SCRCA in June 2022 and to Council in July 2023.
We are now moving inexorably toward the demolition of Campbell House. It should not have come to this. A.W. Campbell House, located on the hill overlooking the conservation area, symbolizes the legacy of Archie Campbell’s contribution to conservation, agriculture, and the preservation of natural heritage in SW Ontario. More than any other remaining building in Brooke-Alvinston, it represents the cultural history of our municipality. It is a rich history with implications beyond Brooke-Alvinston and the potential to serve (as it once did) as a magnet for visitors to the community. Once the house is demolished, it is gone for good: the unique architecture, the iconic location, the opportunity to showcase all it represents. If the SCRCA is indeed granted a demolition permit, the Municipality and the County must ensure appropriate mitigation of the loss of this valuable cultural heritage asset to the community. A plaque is not enough.
On behalf of the Friends of Campbell Park,
Kathryn Shailer
