Glenn Charron (right) has been very involved in the community lately to digitize the stories of Renfrew | Photo Credit: Town of Renfrew
On Wednesday’s council meeting the Town of Renfrew, alongside McDougall Mill Museum manager and curator Glenn Charron, discussed the prospect of historic conservation within the town of Renfrew.
Last night’s agenda dove into Millionaire’s Corner, a collection of three large homes by the Barr St. and Quarry Ave. intersection.
The Ontario Heritage Act was put in place in 1975 which adds certain protections around structures deemed historically significant.
In 1987 Renfrew’s “Bonnington House” was demolished, and as a result all council members apart from the mayor at the time resigned from their positions.
The Bonnington House was, at the time, the oldest standing building at Renfrew and Heritage Renfrew estimates it was built in 1845.
Charron hopes that with this new conservation program the town can get going on historic conservation, which he says has been a little slow since a by-law change in 1988 which made the designation of historic properties fall within a committee’s responsibility.
In a bid to get the ball rolling on historic building conservation, Charron brought to council the identification of three heritage sites; 277 Barr St., 247 Barr St. and 151 Quarry Ave.
These three buildings make up what’s known as Millionaire’s Corner, and their architectural features reflect the ginormous successes of the average millionaire a century ago.
Charron has been working with Heritage Renfrew and other key stakeholders in this conservation plan, and part of that planning process was running an investigation to see which buildings are and are not considered a heritage site, and cross examining that information with building records and the like to propose a heritage title to properties lacking the status.
Charron also notes it’s important to involve the property owners about the process, which not only clears up questions residents may have about their potentially historic site, but also promotes cooperation which is vital to work smoothly and effectively.
The three buildings on Millionaire’s Corner have been identified as heritage sites and are the groundwork for heritage identification going forward under this current process.
(Written by Mik Horvath)
