Submitted by WA Contents

An ounce of preservation is worth a ton of history

Architecture News - Aug 22, 2008 - 14:35   8437 views

With heritage sites across Canada increasingly at risk of being torn down, advocates call for a national trust of endangered buildings
It was in Fort Langley about 150 years ago that British Columbia was first claimed for Britain.

The fort was the first of its kind on the West Coast. It`s still standing, a prized piece of Canada`s past sitting just east of Vancouver.

There are about 7,200 such heritage sites across the country. They`re finicky old dames requiring complex maintenance and upkeep, and while Britain and the United States have broad-based programs for preserving "built heritage" - a national trust and tax credits, respectively - Canada has none.

But a solution may soon come from, fittingly, Fort Langley. The region`s MP, Mark Warawa, is spending the next few months speaking with people across the country in an effort to develop Canada`s own National Heritage Trust.
www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080818.wheritage18/BNStory/National/