Heritage home meets the wrecking ball
By Chris Simon

A photo of the Roderick McConkey homestead, which was taken in 1897. The homestead will likely be sold to developers by June, and advocates worry it may be torn down. Innisfil council will host a public meeting on a proposed development at the Innisfil Beach Road and 20th Sideroad intersection tonight.

Heritage advocates are rushing to save a century home after a similar nearby site was demolished last week.

The Ness-Adair home, which was built in the 1860s and located on Innisfil Beach Road near the 20th Sideroad, was demolished by developers last week, to make room for a new subdivision and retail store. But tonight, Innisfil council will host a public meeting to discuss the future of a development located across the intersection. That could include the Roderick McConkey homestead, a farm house built in 1858. The building is expected to be sold to developers soon.

Construction plans for the area include several big box retail stores and a subdivision, says town councillor and Innisfil Heritage Committee member Bill Pring.

"If the developers are prepared to put the money out and have it moved, I think everyone would be happy," he said. "Whether they want to pay several hundred thousand dollars more ... maybe they've got a chance. While the idea is good, someone has to write the cheque to do that."

Brian Gregory, current owner of the McConkey homestead, says the building should be preserved, but doesn't want it to stand in the way of planned development for the area.

"I too grieved for the (Adair) house. We've seen a change, and not wanting to be surrounded by the atmosphere of changing, we agreed to sell (the property)," he said, noting living in the house for 35 years. "We've maintained it as much as possible. We knew that we had to leave and that the property was to be developed as the town wanted it to be developed. It's the commercial entrance to Alcona, and we had to respect that. I understand that somebody may want to save the house, and we could do our best to see if we could make that happen, but somewhere along the lines someone has to pay the bill. It's a substantial building to move and a tremendous expense.

"You have to look at the context that life is moving on."

However several heritage conservationists say the McConkey homestead should be investigated for historical significance and preserved.

"This building could easily be preserved on the lot and turned into a restaurant or a retail store selling products from Innisfil, maps, guides to interesting sites, and Innisfil histories," said heritage advocate David Steele.

"Would this old gem not be a more worthy representative of Alcona, Innisfil and its rural traditions than more box stores, not to mention more interesting, and more of a tourist draw?"

The 10-room homestead is over 150 years old. About 140 acres of the original farm were severed and used to construct the Lake Simcoe Golf and Country Club. Several long-time Innisfil families have owned the home.

The home is in excellent shape, and should be used to display Innisfil's rural heritage, he said.

Steele accuses the town of failing to prevent the demolition of the Ness- Adair home.

He says the town could have registered the site as a place of historical interest, which would have required owners of the property the land to give two months notice before demolishing the building. That notice could give investigators adequate time to look into the property's past.

"The Ness-Adair home was destroyed in the name of progress and development," he said.

"This fine old building is to be replaced by a store and surrounding suburban development.

"How could this have been allowed by council or the Innisfil Heritage Committee?"

But the town is taking several steps to protect older buildings.

The heritage committee will be presenting a list of at least 31 sites of historical interest to council soon, the first step to preserving several of the town's older buildings, said Pring.

Meanwhile, council will ask the new owners of the homestead to consider preserving the site, or moving the building to another location within the town. However, council may be hesitant to designate the home as a heritage site soon, he said.

"We're almost at the end of negotiations with these people," said Pring. "For us to all of a sudden come out and say this is a historical site would really have (the deal) fall apart. The town has already designated that this is going to be our cornerstone coming into Alcona; we've got Loblaws on one side and Canadian Tire on the other. It's cost these (developers) a lot of money to adjust things to the way we want to look coming into the town.

"Maybe it would be a good idea to buy 20 acres and put heritage places on it, but where's the money going to come from?"

Others say the town should consider creating a designating heritage conservation district, similar to areas in Cobourg, Port Hope and Niagara-on-the-Lake, and moving significant older buildings to that area. The plan would ensure many of the older buildings within Innisfil are preserved. Or, developers should simply have to work around the buildings, once their construction projects begin.

"If you know you have important houses, and these houses are obviously important, you should get them on your register and bring them to council," said David Chambers, a former chair of the New Tecumseth and Bradford West Gwillimbury heritage committees.

"There was absolutely no protection for the Adair house. You'd have had two months to talk to the developer, to let him know what an important site this was, not only for this municipality, but Simcoe County and the province."

But if preserved, the homestead will likely have to stay in its current location. The building would cost several hundred thousand dollars to move, admitted Chambers.

The meeting will take place at the New Town Hall. For more information, visit www.innisfil.ca.