Time appears to have just about run out for those trying to save a heritage house from being demolished to make way for expansion of Dufferin County’s administration buildings and local courts.

At its meeting Monday night, Orangeville Council heard a proposal from local developer Gary Grant to move the 125-year-old house at 55 Zina Street to a First Avenue lot owned by the town.

Council weighed the proposal and eventually decided to grant the demolition permit. While the county has not set a specific demolition date, the house has to be gone by July 7, when construction of the addition goes to tender.

The purpose of the demolition is to accommodate construction of a two-storey, 18,827- square-foot addition to accommodate more office space for county administration and the provincial courts, as well as an expanded parking area. Mayor Rob Adams said Mr. Grant’s original proposal was to move the house to a lot he had purchased on Church Street.

“Now, it’s to a town-owned property. This proposal has changed significantly.”

He also pointed out that council was not told of the change until the afternoon of the council meeting, realistically giving no time to study the revised proposal. In an interview prior to Monday night’s meeting, Mr. Grant indicated the First Avenue location was the only viable one because of the time frame involved. He did say he had second location, but he required Credit Valley Conservation Authority permission before he could begin the necessary excavation work, and that would require much longer than the four- week window of opportunity to save the house.

The town had purchased the First Avenue intending to convert it to a parking lot to help Broadway merchants. Such plans were put on hold after protests from neighbouring residents.

“There was a lot of opposition to turning (the property) into a parking lot,” said Mr. Grant, “and nobody wants to see a heritage property destroyed.”As well, he pointed out that, once the moving process was over, the town would have an asset he figures to be in excess of $400,000.

At Monday’s meeting, Councillor Mary Rose pointed out that there wasn’t provision in the Town’s 2010 budget for the $219,000 needed to move the building and perform the necessary foundation work to put it in a new location.

Taking into account the original purchase price of the property — about $200,000 – and other variable costs that could come into play, there was also a question as to whether moving the building would be financially sound.

In an interview Tuesday, town planning director James

Stiver suggested that, in the

current real estate market, it

should not be assumed that

the house – should it be relocated

to the town-owned

First Avenue property near First Avenue property near

Second Street – could actually

be marketed at

$400,000.

At Monday’s meeting, Councillor Scott Wilson

said he felt the First

Avenue idea was “a non-starter,” pointing out that the intent for a

parking lot on the property, while not an immediate priority, had not immediate priority, had not been abandoned.

He did, however, inquire into the possibility of the house being stored somewhere. Mike Giles, the county’s chief building official, said there was no place that could be done.

At that point, Mr. Wilson forwarded to motion to award the demolition permit.

Mr. Grant expressed his bitterness in a letter released to the media Tuesday. “I made a proposal last night to council and I might as well have talked to a wall. Not a single councillor supported saving the house.”

Meanwhile, Mr. Stiver and Mr. Giles held a recent meeting with neighbours of the county building who had related concerns to Council that the design of the new expansion was detrimental to the neighhourhood’s aesthetics.

Gord Purdy, whose 59 Zina Street home will be next door to the county building once the expansion is completed, told the Citizen in an interview that he thought it was a beneficial exchange.

“All in all, the design changes are a much better format,” he said. “We were all in agreement that the changes would suffice.”

He pointed out that the embossed brickwork proposed for the structure’s west wall was a vast improvement on the original design. As well, he is optimistic there will be an adequate buffer between the two properties.

“I have faith that Mr. Giles will do all he can to save the cedars that make up the buffer zone between our properties,” he said.