On a frigid January night, while many people were hunkered down at home, the Huntingdon Town Hall was abuzz. Citizens lined up to enter the building for the public meeting to discuss the demolition of the structure known as the Gleaner building. Almost 40 people filed in, and soon there was standing room only.
Mayor André Brunette presided over the January 20 meeting. Municipal councillors were also in attendance, along with Richard Livernois from Élli Construction – the developer of the land on Chateauguay Street behind the building – and Yves Laberge who owns the property with Michael Bourgon, who was not present.
Mayor Brunette started the meeting by stating that Huntingdon was the first town to follow the new Quebec Cultural Heritage Act governing the demolition of buildings built before 1940. The Gleaner building was built to house The Huntingdon Gleaner offices and printing plant in 1939. It was later home to the Huntingdon CLSC and Service Quebec. He outlined that there would be a consultation by a committee to decide if the town would give a demolition permit to allow the building to be torn down.
It was announced that 47 letters had been received by the town, all against the demolition except for one. An online petition against the demolition had 349 signatures; that number has increased to 534 in the days following the town hall meeting.
Director general Johanne Hébert stated that the present value of the land is $294,100 and the building itself is worth $382,300.
The assistant director general, Carolyn McKenzie, outlined the inspector’s report on the Gleaner building using projected slides. The slides highlighted damage to the interior of the building, including the heating system, plumbing, basement, roof, and electrical system. The building has sustained major water damage throughout. The total cost of work is said to be $1,900,000.
Questions were posed by private citizens who asked if there was any chance of renovating the building. Laberge responded to these questions by saying that it would be too expensive to renovate the structure. “Nobody has that kind of money,” he said.
The conversation in the room took a different direction as people asked what the developer was proposing for the land where the Gleaner building now stands. Livernois presented pictures of the proposed project which would include the construction of townhouses, each with six family units. These units would be available to buy at a possible cost of $400,000 per unit. The project would have a contemporary architectural gate that would incorporate the inscribed feature from the original building that says, “EST 1863, The Huntingdon Gleaner Inc.”
Many citizens asked questions and made remarks, and Mayor Brunette intervened to organize the comments to be voiced one at a time. Some citizens remarked that the modern facade of these new buildings had no character or personality. A few citizens got up and left. There seemed to be an overall feeling in the room that this was a “fait accompli.”
The mayor abruptly left the room with the councillors to discuss the situation in private. The crowd erupted into many conversations, and another group of people left.
Twenty minutes later the mayor and councillors returned to the room. To the surprise of everyone it was announced that the permit to demolish would not be given. Carolyn Cameron of the Chateauguay Valley Historical Society said that the decision was “much to our surprise!”
In a statement to The Gleaner, Brunette explained there were several reasons why the application was denied. “Specifically, we believe that the soil reuse plan lacked detail on important aspects, preventing stakeholders from forming an informed opinion or properly assessing the relevance and viability of the proposed plans,” he said.
“We also believe that the Gleaner is an important part of our history, and that the building that housed it is a significant symbol of that history. It represents a heritage to which we are attached and which we recognize as having historical and cultural value.”
Brunette added that a meeting would take place with the owners in the future, “to find a solution that satisfies all parties involved.”
1 Comment
I am very pleased about the decison of the municipal council not to give the permit for the descrution of the Gleaner building. Robert Seller who founded the Gleaner had an impact not only on the town of Huntingdon, but on the county and accross Quebec. His ‘History of the Huntingdon County and the Seignories of Chateauguay and Beauharnois’ provides a unique, remarkable recounting of the challenges and achievements of the settler communities in our region. The question is: How can we ensure that those stories are told, analysed from a historical perspective and preserved.
Other sister regions in the province have focused energies on the development of local museums. The Mississquoi Museum, located on the banks of the Pike River in Stanbridge East, is an example of how a community came together to tell its story through the development of a museum. The Chateauguay Vallley and Upper St. Lawrence Regions could greatly benefit from a similar project. We have rich stories of the farming communties and early agricultural practices, , stories of the woolen mills and the people who worked there, stories of the many challenges of being a border area, the movement (legal and illegal) of goods and people, and the previous invasions that we have resisted! The creation of a Museum in the area would be an exceptional educational tool and a community project. that could impact on future generations. It would be an ambitious project for this rapidly expanding community.
We are hearing a lot these days about mega-projets, and indeed, they are important. But communities are built around meaningful, inspiring local projects that can be a source of social cohesion and community development. Could Huntingdon take on the challenge of such a project, using the conservation and restoration of the historic Gleaner property as the launching point? The building block are all there., literally and figuratively. What is needed is the will to make it happen.