Ah Yes...the Petch House

There it sits, sad and forlorn.Perched on cinder blocks,clap boards missing, roof caved in, bottom boards crumbling beneath it, Zellars light fixtures on either side of the door, on the east side of Leslie Street just south of Wellington.

Since 2003, it has awaited someone to love it and claim it as their own.

Nobody has.

But the Mayor and Seven Councillors clung to the idea that after one hundred and fifty-two years of service as a humble abode in the Township of Whitchurch, six years sitting, rotting and mouldering, with a hole in the roof, home to varmints, dead and alive, at the side of the road, awaiting redemption,and three expert reports later, it still had a future

For four years, the town collected $100,000 in property taxes in preparation for its restoration.

Last year, a report from Van Nostrand of Vandorf ,whose livelihood it is to re-locate and restore vintage structures was obtained. He examined the cabin, inside and out and stated , in it's current condition, it could not be moved in one piece. He charged not a penny for his service.

Councillor MacEachern found no value in the advice. A second expert was retained to give a different opinion. No luck there. The second report repeated the previous advice the building could not be moved in one piece. Re-location and restoration would cost $450,000.

Councillor MacEachern as a member of the South Lake Simcoe Conservation Authority, obtained authority for it to be re- located to Sheppard's Bush, provided no trees needed to be cut down.

Surprise!Surprise! The Conservation Authority did not have authority to give authority to receive the structure.

Heritage Ontario owns Sheppard's Bush . They gave an almighty sniff, looked down long patrician noses and declared;

Heaven's to Betsy, a clapboard cabin restored with replacement vintage boards would no longer be authentic even at a cost of $450.000. We will not provide space on our property for something like that.

The second expert report cost $5,000.

Still reluctant to accept the obvious, Council diligently directed staff to obtain yet another report, to cost no more than another $5,000.

Another mass of print came forward to Council-in -Committee last week. The debate was not on camera. There was no good news. The building can still not be moved in one piece. Cost of restoration was still not far off half a million. The new report cost $2,000.

Was Council was finally forced to accept that Petch House does not have a future?

Not quite. They referred the issue to the Manager of Heritage Planning. The report under consideration came forward from the Senior Executive Leadership Team (formerly Management Team) Obviously ,the hope was a lesser management type might have greater insight.

The recommendation slipped quietly and unobtrusively through in approval of the Committee Minutes without comment on Tuesday last.

Hundreds of hours have been spent in council "debate"

The Good Lord alone knows how many high-priced staff hours have been spent in the futile attempt, first to save the Petch House and then to save face. No figures are appended anywhere to reflect those costs.

Far be it from me to say; I told you so... but I did, didn't I. More than once.

Just another of those pesky, solitary votes in opposition to be noted by my critics

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