Mandate of the Development and Heritage Standing Committee Dealing with Heritage Matters
- Identification – is accomplished through the maintenance of the Windsor Municipal Heritage Register and the Archaeological Management Plan. Research is ongoing, and photographic and other records are kept by the City’s Heritage Planner.
- Recognition – is accomplished through Council’s designation of properties under the terms of the Ontario Heritage Act, Parts IV and V, Windsor Heritage Committee’s ongoing program of commemorating heritage resources with plaques and signs, the presentation at City Council of annual “Built Heritage Awards”. The Committee may also be involved in heritage public awareness and education programs consisting of brochures, displays, videos, tours, presentations, and workshops.
- Protection – is accomplished by Council’s utilization of the demolition/alteration approval processes outlined in the Ontario Heritage Act, the requirement of heritage easements when heritage grants are provided, and encouragement of adaptive reuse of heritage resources rather than demolition.
- Enhancement – is accomplished through the provision of financial assistance for the conservation of heritage resources from the “Community Heritage Fund”, the “Built Heritage Fund” & Heritage Property Tax Reduction Program, the restoration of City-owned heritage resources (Heritage Challenge Endowment Fund), and the insistence that any municipal undertakings and programs promote our built heritage.
- Proper Management – is accomplished by the maintenance and protection of municipally owned heritage resources, by the utilization of the development approval process and other incentive programs to facilitate heritage conservation.
- Update of the Municipal Register of heritage properties
- Designation of individual properties and of Heritage Conservation Districts
- Applications to alter designated properties
- Applications to demolish or remove properties of cultural heritage value or interest, including partial demolitions of heritage “listed” properties
- Applications to amend and repeal designation bylaws
- Easements or covenants
WINDSOR HERITAGE COMMITTEE HISTORY
It was originally formed in 1975. To help fund the restoration of City-owned Willistead Manor (an Albert Kahn designed mansion built in 1906 for Hiram Walker’s second son, Edward C. Walker), the City wanted to tap into a provincial funding program available at that time, and a “local architectural conservation advisory committee” was required as a condition of the grant. In 1988 City Council hired a resource person to serve the committee, the Heritage Planner on staff in the City’s Planning Services Unit. Today Windsor Heritage Committee consists of eleven members, with members of Council and appointments of Citizen members by City Council at the election cycle.
Revised August 2022
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