There is a saying that goes “old but not dead”, which certainly rings true for the importance surrounding preserving heritage in the Central Okanagan.
More than 100 people gathered at Benvoulin Church Wednesday night (Feb. 21) for the 40th annual Central Okanagan Heritage Awards.
The awards were an opportunity to highlight those who have helped preserve the heritage of buildings, parks, neighbourhoods and communities in the region.
Presented by Shona Harrison and Mary Browne-Clayton, directors for the Central Okanagan Heritage Society, the evening recognized eight separate categories.
- Conservation project on a heritage building currently in residential use: This award went to 792 Lawrence Avenue and Astrid Kneipp, for a residential building that has recently undergone an exterior restoration and or rehabilitation.
- Continued conservation of a heritage building currently in residential use: Two awards were handed out for buildings that recognized the high quality of its exterior preservation and maintenance over the years, in keeping with its design and structure. The first award went to The Reekie House at 429 Park Avenue and its owners, Ian and Susan Crichton. And, to the DeHart / Bennett House (Brookside Manor), accepting the award for the owners were the grandchildren of William Andrew Cecil (WAC) Bennett and May Bennett, Mary-Jean Bennett and Rosanne Bennett.
- Continued conservation of a heritage building currently in non-residential use: This award went to 1560 Water Street and owner Bill Scutt, for the high quality of its exterior preservation and maintenance over the years, in keeping with its original design and structure.
- Conservation of a neighbourhood, streetscape or cultural landscape: This award went to Ben Lee Park for its revitalization through the restoration and/or rehabilitation of its buildings and streetscape, or is a significant cultural landscape. The award was accepted by Kelowna Mayor Tom Dyas.
Harrison presented the award and said the following regarding the park:
“Today, the park is as cherished as Ben Lee was. It has evolved to be the embodiment of his vision: a safe, open-air recreational space for all residents to enjoy; it is where children climb on and play on brightly coloured play structures, and frolic under the water spray from an oversized green dragon, to where youth chum and skateboard, and elders walk their dogs. It is indeed a place of community, just a Ben Lee envisioned.”
- Special heritage project: To recognize and honour special projects and accomplishments in the Central Okanagan, went to the film The Casorsos: La Prima Famiglia and was accepted by the Kelowna Canadian Italian Club and project chair Gord Hotchkiss, as well as to the Central Okanagan Cemetery Recording Project which was accepted by Susan Campbell.
There was also a distinguished community service award given to Elder Pamela and Elder Wilfred (Grouse) Barnes who are both Indigenous educators, Knowledge Keepers and members of the Westbank First Nation. According to Browne-Clayton, the Elders are dedicated to teaching and preserving the Sylix culture and knowledge with the community and the Sylix people.
“Grouse is a fluent Nsyilxcen speaker and is one of a very small number who was raised with Sylix as their first language. He has been associated with Okanagan College for over 12 years as a cultural and language educator,” she said.
The awards were also an opportunity for Harrison to talk about facadism within the Central Okanagan.
“It’s understood as retaining a facade, usually which is historic, and deemed to have an architectural or cultural meaning that has a building, built fresh behind it,” she explained.
She said that what facades do, is appear as if an older building will be behind it, when actually there is a new building where an old one once stood.
“It is like an obfuscation of truth, you see this building and you expect to see something that isn’t there. And, for me this is problematic as a heritage advocate because we have lost the heart and soul of a building and all we have is this little pretty face,” said Harrison.
She said there are times when having a facade is positive, such as when the building is damaged from fire or water and the facade can be preserved, but added that is not the goal of heritage preservation.
One particular facade in Kelowna that is troublesome for Harrison is that of the former home of the Kelowna Courier, at 1570-1580 Water Street (between Bernard and Lawrence avenues).
Work on the site was started in 2020 but came to a halt in 2021, and the city was advised in 2022 that plans were being put on hold. Now, what remains is a large pit, with a collapsed crane beside it and a facade held up with scaffolding.
“One problem with this was the demolition, it is inherently wasteful. It is a concern for environmentalism, demolition and construction almost account for a quarter of the total annual waste produced in the United Kingdom,” said Harrison.
The building on Water Street that was demolished had been built with Knox Mountain bricks.
“Facadism creates a tension between what is perceived and what is real. The unavoidable sense of absurdity when a facade is left adrift shored up by scaffolding awaiting a new building behind it, just like 1580 Water Street,” explained Harrison. “We are watching this wall stand there precariously as it awaits its fate because we don’t know what is going to happen.”
Unfortunately, Harrison doesn’t believe the heritage society was approached about the preservation of 1580 Water prior to the demolition.
However, the building’s neighbour 1560 Water Street and its owner Bill Scutt, were awarded by the heritage society for its preservation of the site.
Following Harrison’s speech regarding facadism she said she was met with a standing ovation as many expressed frustration with how 1580 Water Street had been handled in respect to preserving a heritage building in Kelowna.
According to Ryan Smith the director of planning and building at the City of Kelowna, staff are in active pre-application discussions with the property owner and hope to see a new proposal in the first half of this year.
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