A long saga between activism groups and the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks hit another important point Friday.
The Hyatt and MacDonald houses located at Sandbanks Provincial Park were officially destroyed after years of debate on whether or not they should be preserved on the grounds of heritage and historical significance.
The ministry says there is little heritage significance and points to serious safety concerns with both buildings.
Quinte News spoke with Northumberland-Peterborough South MPP David Piccini, Minister of Environment, Conservation and Parks.
He said that this is the end of two years of due diligence research on the two houses that concluded that there is simply not a significant amount of heritage value.
“When considering the future of these buildings in the last two years as a ministry we conducted two reports that are really important: the cultural heritage evaluation report and heritage impact assessment report which was done by very qualified individuals at Letourneau Heritage Consulting. They concluded that there was limited heritage value in either building and that there was nothing unique or innovative about the buildings so I think that, when considering this, we’ve got to rely on the experts and the facts, and move on.”
He did say, however, that the aforementioned reports concluded that the MacDonald farm hog shed did have heritage importance and that he instructed parks staff to ensure that it was retained to be “interpreted for parks and visitors.”
On Friday, Kae Elgie, President of the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario, released a scathing statement in light of what they called an “abrupt and needlessly brutal destruction of two heritage buildings.”
The press release from the ACO also alleged that many of the materials from the home could have been salvaged, saying that the “bricks, old growth timber, interior trim are all highly prized and sought after by heritage property owners and could have been salvaged, sold and reused…”
MPP Piccini said that they had instructed parks staff to work with contractors to “preserve material of value.”
He said now the focus is on moving forward with expanding and modernizing Ontario parks.
“What I’m really excited about is where we’re heading with Ontario parks. We invested in the 2020 budget $6 million for electrical campsites, more enhanced roofed accommodations. We’ve seen a 135% increase in our parks and I know Sandbanks is no stranger, it’s one of the most popular parks in this province and we’ve got an opportunity to bring our parks into the 21st century. I’m just so excited, as is Premier Ford, we’re looking at expanding those opportunities for roofed accommodations, truly accessible experience, building a number of accessible campsites, looking at activities that we can do in the park, enhanced activities. I know things like treetop trekking, other sorts of activities people enjoy doing, and really looking at a way to grow our parks’ footprints.”
He said while he respects what groups like Save Heritage Sandbanks Homes is saying, they’ve done two years of due diligence and that they want to look to the future.
Despite the fact that the buildings are officially gone, the group says that they will work to ensure nothing similar happens in the future.
