The Town of Okotoks is dusting off work that has sat on the shelf for a decade to create a program to protect heritage buildings in the community.
On July 17, town council approved $60,000 in funding for the next four years to create a municipal heritage designation program for buildings and properties in Okotoks.
Allan Boss, Okotoks culture and heritage manager, said the program will help to identify and protect buildings and locations of historic value in town for the future.
“It becomes important because there are numerous buildings in town that are really valuable for Okotoks’ identity and for our history and they really tell the story of who we are and why we’re here,” he said.
The project has potential value for the town, and owners of heritage properties, said Boss. He said research looking at heritage designation and property values shows 74 per cent of properties retain real estate value, or it increases.
“There’s a cache to holding that designation so there’s some incentive to having that,” he said.
Boss said it’s too early to say what the program could specifically entail at this time. However, he said it should be designed to make property owners want to become part of it.
The funding will allow the Town to hire a consultant to help the Town develop specific details for the program and new policies.
Eventually, Boss said there could be incentives for people to apply for historical designation for their properties. He said some programs in other communities include tax incentives or funding to encourage property owners to do upgrades or renovations to protect them.
The program could also protect, or at least reduce the likelihood of heritage homes being torn down for new development, Boss added.
He said having a municipal certification can also help achieve historic designation at the provincial and potentially federal level.
With council’s funding decision, Boss has begun working on a request for proposals to hire a consultant. He expects work to begin in the late fall, after completion of a new Culture and Heritage Master Plan.
The process is also expected to include looking at a potential list of heritage properties in town and this could include the old Macleod Trail.
“That is something that’s definitely worthy of exploration into a heritage designation,” he said.
The new program carries on work that has sat on the shelf for a decade.
In 2007, the Town created a preliminary inventory of buildings that could have been given heritage designation.
It looked at 42 properties and detailed statements of significance were completed for 15 properties. The list included several historic homes in the Olde Towne area, as well as the old Macleod Trail.
“Then council took that as information and then the project went into hibernation for a little bit,” Boss.
He said renovations of the Rotary Performing Arts Centre and other unfinished projects took priority and he is the third person in the culture and heritage manager position since 2007. He wants to see the project move forward.
“It’s been on our radar and it’s been on our plate and in discussions with planning for the past three or four years about what our next steps are, and now it just seems like it’s the right time to revise it,” said Boss.
Marie Wedderburn, president of the Okotoks and District Historical Society, said a program could help to identify buildings with heritage value that have survived and ensure they are protected.
She said the Town has lost many of its heritage buildings over the years and it’s important to protect the ones that are left. Wedderburn said the former Creamery Building, a century-old barn burned down in a case of arson in 2015, was one of the oldest in Okotoks before it was destroyed.
“Not all of them can be saved or anything like that, but we’ve lost too many of them already,” she said.
