Boyle Street and McCauley are two of the city’s oldest neighbourhoods and due to their ages, there are many properties in these neighbourhoods that have historical significance. Sadly, as can be seen in many other mature neighbourhoods in Edmonton, many of these historical buildings have been neglected or even demolished over the past few years. When we lose these original structures, neighbourhoods’ sense of place deteriorates.

The Edmonton Historical Board (EHB) is an advisory board for City Council that provides information and recommendations relating to Edmonton’s history generally and specifically to the City’s built heritage. The EHB has been building awareness in our communities around this loss of built heritage. One effective way to tackle this issue of neighbourhood character erosion is the City of Edmonton’s Historic Resources Management Program (HRMP).

The HRMP empowers owners of historically-significant property to protect their building in perpetuity through designation as a Municipal Historic Resource (MHR) where City Council passes a bylaw that prevents its demolition in perpetuity and requires the building owner to maintain it to a reasonable standard. In exchange for protecting the building, the City will install an interpretive plaque that provides information on the building and also offers financial incentives that can be used to rehabilitate exterior “character-defining elements” of the building.

In order to be considered eligible for designation as a MHR, the property needs to first be listed on the City’s Inventory of Historic Resources. This is a list of buildings in Edmonton that have been deemed by the EHB’s Historic Resources Review Panel to have sufficient historical significance and integrity from both architectural and cultural standpoints to be eligible for designation as a MHR. Buildings on the Inventory have no legal protection from demolition. Unfortunately, over the last few years there have been more buildings lost from the Inventory due to demolition than have been added. This is an extremely concerning trend and one that urgently needs to be addressed.

If you own, or are contemplating owning, a building that you think is historically significant, please consider applying to add it to the Inventory. If it is already on the Inventory, please consider designation as a MHR to protect it so that it may be appreciated by future generations of Edmontonians. You can reach out to the City’s heritage team at heritageplanners@edmonton.ca for details on either process.

Harrison Sheremeta is the Chair of the Edmonton Historical Board and lives in a heritage home in south Norwood, adjacent to the border with McCauley. He wants to see more heritage buildings in our neighbourhoods restored and protected for future generations to appreciate.