Historic Buildings Demolished for Affordable Housing

0:00It's April 29th. From your city to your ears, this is Canada News Today, powered by AI. Infrastructure Ontario just dropped a bombshell plan to demolish 22 historic buildings on the old St. Thomas psychiatric hospital site, a 440 acre spot south of town, earmarked for 3500 homes and 9000 residents. The province revealed this in an April 9th letter, citing $71 million for the tear down because the structures are supposedly unsafe and too costly to repurpose for housing and community spaces. Heritage advocates with Heritage Central Elgin are fired up, insisting the thick brick walls and solid frames from a January tour prove the buildings. Are structurally sound and perfect for adaptive reuse instead of wasting cash on demolition? Central Elgin Council pushed through the official plan amendment this month, despite pushback from their own heritage committee and two counselors. Plus data showing 72% of public meeting attendees wanted to save the buildings.

1:01The sites got deep roots as a 1939 psychiatric hospital, turned World War II Air Force Base, designed by noted architect William Lyon, Somerville, with Queensden limestone sculptures. While demolition permits loom and proposals wrapped by June, MPP Rob Flack vows to preserve key artifacts amid the shift to affordable housing on lands, costing a million bucks yearly to maintain.