Owner of historic Charlottetown log home wants to take it down

A Charlottetown man who owns a historic log house in the citysays his only option is to tear it down, but that won't happen without city approval.

"At some point you have to kind of give up on saving an old place, the same thing as humans like we have a life expectancyof so long," said Ray Campbell.

Campbell uncoveredthe history in the property while doing renovations inMarch 2016. The building is believed to date back to the 1840s.

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Campbell hoped to do something with the house, like convert it into a cafe, but now says the cost is too great. He thinks it would be better to dismantle the home and reassemble itat his property in a rural area.He said he sees the historical value in the building, but doesn't understand why, if the city wants it saved, it should be up to him to come up with the funds.

"Really at the end of the day whyshould it fall on me to fix this property or save this old log house for everybody else that lives in P.E.I.," he said.

"The cost is just too great and no matter what cost I put into it, it's not going to benefit me. It's just going to basically bankrupt me at the end of the day. "

No demo allowed

The property has been designated a heritage resourcefor decades; with that designation, Campbell has to follow the rules around heritage properties, including asking permission to demolish it. Greg Rivard, chair of the Planning and Heritage Committee, said demolitionis something the city would like to avoid.

"It's one of those pieces of history that makes Charlottetown unique, we want to make sure that we keep that. It is the fabric of the city."

Rivard said that the citywould expect the same thing of any owner of a heritage resource, adding that the city is willing to work with Campbell to get the property up to a betterconditionbut that the citycan't just take the property over.

"We're not in the business of buying homes and restoring homes but you know if it's a case of saving a heritage building, it's something that council would have to entertain. Again the price tag would have to fit as well," he said.

"I'm hoping someone other than the city steps up that wants to take on such a great project."

Rivard said the city hasn'tseen any concrete plans as to what Campbell would like to do with the property. Campbell had requested to take the rest of the siding off and wrap the house with protectiveplastic for the winter, but the city didn't approve that plan, saying it wouldn't provide enough protection.Rivardsaid the city has also heard some concerns from residents that the building is unsightly,so the city is askingCampbell to put the siding back on to protect the homeand clean up the property.

"Until we had concrete plans as to what the building was going to be used for, we thought the best thing was to put siding back on, protect it from the winter and then see what happens next summer, if there's additional funding, if the property gets sold," said Rivard.

Campbell said he has taken the situation to his lawyer and will wait to see what he saysbeforehe does anything with the property.Council can vote to have the city put the siding on, and bill the owner for the expense, but Rivard said that isn't on the table just yet.

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