Timmins is taking further steps to protect historic buildings.
Seven municipally owned properties have been added the Municipal Heritage Register list as non-designated properties.
The properties are the McIntyre Headframe, the McIntyre Community Building, the dome-shaped ore bin at the Hollinger property on Water Tower Road, city hall, the City of Timmins Engineering Building (that's also the old post office), the Timmins Transit terminal that was the old railway station, and the H.R. Bielek building that houses the Timmins Senior Recreation Centre.
A non-designated property doesn't have the same protections as a designated property.
"By listing these buildings, we’re saying we believe there are attributes of heritage value that we would like to evaluate. By listing a property, we’re essentially giving … the property a level of protection until the point at which we can designate it,” explained Coun. Michelle Boileau.
At Tuesday's meeting when the properties were added to the list, CAO Dave Landers said council has already made steps to recognize the importance of preserving the community's heritage.
"And I don’t think we should look at this as a frivolous step because council has the authority to take action on city hall or any other of these buildings. Rather what I think what we’re doing with this list — it’s a signal to the community that we have a number of buildings and structures that are of historical and cultural significance to the community and we’re recognizing that,” he said.
The Mackechnie house at 438 Wilson Ave. is the city's first designated heritage property. That means it's protected under the Ontario Heritage Act and its heritage attributes can't be altered without first applying to council.
Prior to the registry being established, historic buildings such as the mine manager's house and the Hollinger office building were demolished in recent years.
