This post is the third in a series in which we reached out to municipal candidates to ask their heritage platform. Responses will be posted in the order received.
Shawn LeBlanc was the third candidate to respond. He is running for Town Council in Amherstburg.
Please note: I shared with the candidates that Adam Coates and the Town of Amherstburg’s Heritage Committee have been nominated for a Carlos Ventin Award for Municipal Heritage Leadership from the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario.
Thank you for the invitation, and congratulations to Adam Coates, the Heritage Committee, and everyone who helped establish the heritage district. That is real work, and the Carlos Ventin nomination is well earned.
My view on heritage is simple. Amherstburg’s character is not a backdrop. It is one of the reasons people live here and visit here. Conservation done well means keeping what matters and putting buildings back to use. An empty building is not a success story, even when it is historically important.
Adaptive reuse is how a lot of that work actually gets done. Keep what tells the story. Let the property work again so it does not sit and decay on the public dime.
On Belle Vue specifically:
Belle Vue matters to Amherstburg and to Canada. I respect that, and I respect the people who have given time, money, and care to it for years.
The Town has owned the property for a decade. The house has been empty far longer than that. Storms this summer damaged the roof again. Taxpayers are carrying a deteriorating national historic site that the municipality has not been able to restore.
A proper restoration is a specialized, multi year project. From everything on the public record, the price tag to bring Belle Vue back to life is beyond what the Town’s finances can responsibly carry while we also keep roads, water, sewers, and everyday services in good shape. Hoping the next budget suddenly finds that money is not a plan. It is how a vacant heritage building keeps getting more expensive to save.
I do not believe the next council should spend another term hoping a municipal restoration materializes. The Town is not set up to be the long term steward of a project this specialized and this costly.
If elected, I would support moving Belle Vue out of municipal ownership as promptly as a proper public process allows, to a buyer or partner who can take on the property. That transfer should not be a blank cheque. Any deal should protect as much of the site’s historical significance as is practical, so the story of the place is not erased even if the Town is no longer the owner.
Get it into capable hands. Protect the historical significance. That is how I would approach the file.
I would also want the Belle Vue Conservancy and donors treated with respect in whatever comes next, including how past contributions are recognized.
Thank you for asking, and thank you for the work your branch does in Windsor and Essex.
Featured picture is from Shawn LeBlanc’s Instagram Page.
To follow Shawn LeBlanc’s campaign, visit his Facebook Page.
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