Pratt home demolished without permit, says City of St. John's

A nearly century-old St. John's home was demolished earlier this month before the owner had city approval to do so.

Coun. Dave Lane told CBC thatdemolition applications involvinghomes that don't have official heritage status such as the yellow home at140 Waterford Bridge Rd. are dealt with by staff, and show up on a list of permits for information purposes and the next city council meeting.

In this particular case, the owner applied for the permit but hadn't received it yet, said Lane, who added the application would have been granted anyway.

Either you don't believe in heritage or you do believe in heritage. There's no middle ground.- Colleen Hanrahan

But because the owner jumped the gun, Lane saidhe still has to pay the applicable fees and will be ticketed for working without a permit.

Colleen Hanrahanrecently sold the home, which was built for the Pratt family in 1923. She said she was sorry to see it go.

"It wasn't really ornate on the inside, but it had some lovely features high ceilings, inlaid floors, that kind of thing," she said. "Ienjoyed living there, it was nice."

Historic homes not for everyone

Hanrahan said she wasn't criticizing the owner for demolishing the home; she acknowledged she knew the new owner's plans when she sold it. For her, maintenance on the house was getting to be too much.

"We just wanted to move on, and we have other things we wanted to do," she told theSt. John's Morning Show.

"It's sad, because of course we invested time and effort and money. It was a historic home. I'm not going to criticize that people that buy it, because obviously not everyone likes to live in an older house, and it needed work. But on the other hand, I would have liked to see it maintained."

It had been on the market for some time before it sold, said Hanrahan.

• St. John's council approves demolition of Richmond Cottage, Belvedere Orphanage
• Heritage foundation looks to stop loss of more buildings like Richmond Cottage

She said she's always loved heritage properties, but not everyone feels the same.

"It just strikes me that there's an opportunity here, because it seems we are all polarized," she said.

"Either you don't believe in heritage or you do believe in heritage. There's no middle ground, and I really think there needs to be a debate or discussion around what this means."