Council will vote on whether or not to remove ‘The Steinhoff House’ from the Chatham-Kent Municipal Heritage Register, which would determine if the property at the corner of Wallace Street and Murray Street in Wallaceburg will be demolished.
A staff report indicates that administration is recommending to remove the property from the list.
“On April 26, 2019, the municipality received a written request from the owner of 595 Wallace Street to demolish the existing structure known as ‘The Steinhoff House’,” a staff report indicates.
“The owner has indicated that due to years of neglect, both the interior and exterior of the existing structure has resulted in significant deterioration, and that rehabilitation is no longer financially or structurally feasible.”
Staff says Council has two options regarding the request, which are:
– Proceed with the removal of the subject property from the Municipal Heritage Register to allow demolition of the building to proceed.
– Proceed with designating the subject property under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act. To initiate the designation process, Council must direct that Notice of Intention to Designate the property be given.
Staff says in their report as per the Ontario Heritage Act, any decision of Council regarding this request must occur at its June 24, 2019 meeting, as the mandatory 60-days notice concludes on June 26, 2019.
“If Council makes no decision, the demolition or removal of the existing structure from the subject property can proceed,” a staff report indicates.
The Municipal Heritage Committee was consulted and are expected to address Council through a deputation.
Read the full staff report, here.
The meeting begins at 6 p.m. on Monday, June 24 at the Civic Centre in Chatham.
