Owner of Charlottetown log cabin needs heritage status revoked to demolish, city says
Owner says he isn't willing to invest money to restore home
The City of Charlottetown says if the owner of a historic log cabin wants to tear it down, he'll have to apply to have its heritage status revoked.
Homeowner Ray Campbell would like to demolish the building because he says since it was discovered to be a historic log cabin back in 2016, he's been unable to get insurance on the home.
"It's hard on the head," said Campbell.
"You're unprotected, you're just wingin' it. And you can't really do business. You can't do business because it's always over your head, who is going to do business when you could be sued?"
Owner not willing to restore
Because he can't insure it, Campbell is not willing to invest money into restoring the home.
But the city says if Campbell isn't willing to restore it, and can't sell it, his only option is to apply to have the heritage designation removed.
It's something the city says hasn't been granted in the past.
And Campbell says he's not sure it's worth trying.
"It's just another thing that will take another year or two years," said Campbell. "It's OK for them, they are probably getting paid every week, where this old place sits here."
Removing the heritage designation would involve an application to the heritage board, a public meeting, and a final vote by council.
Building needs renovations
A recent study commissioned by both Campbell and the city deemed the building structurally sound, but in need of massive renovations and repairs to make it livable and to keep it standing.
According to the study, in order to get the building up to code the wood timbers would end up being covered completely.
But Greg Rivard, chair of planning and heritage with the City of Charlottetown, says it is still of heritage value and the home should be preserved.
"They dated this building back to I believe the early 1800s," he said.
"It's one of the only known log cabins in Charlottetown so it does have the heritage value to it. I believe it can be restored, not back to what it was in 1820, but there's lots of parts of that building that can be restored to maintain its heritage value."
Owner could face penalties for demolition
Rivard said he's been in contact recently with someone interested in purchasing the log cabin, someone who has read the recent engineering study and is aware that the home has been difficult to insure.
He warns that if Campbell chooses to go ahead and demolish the building, he'll face significant penalties.
"If we take him to court and he is guilty the fines are significant according to our bylaw," said Rivard.
"I would suggest if his interest is to demolish the building to go through the proper channels and go to council."