Historical Resource Designation Pros & Cons
Certain places may be formally designated as a 'historical resource'. This may be either municipally or provincially under the Alberta Historical Resources Act, or federally under the Canada Historic Sites and Monuments Act. Some sites are even designated as one or more of these!
In 2012, Smoky Lake County partnered with the Villages of Waskatenau and Vilna, the Town of Smoky Lake, and the Province of Alberta to complete a Heritage Inventory and Survey, which identifies numerous 'sites of interest' across the region. Of these, some have subsequently gone on to be formally designated.
Are you interested in applying for historical resource designation? If so, there are a few things for you to consider in order to understand if it makes sense for you...
Pros
- Pride & stature, inclusion on the Alberta/Canada Historic Places Register
- Possibility to seek grant money
- Heritage properties tend to retain their market value somewhat better than non-heritage properties during economic downturns
Cons
- Restrictions on renovation, demolition, additions
- There is less grant money available than many people think and must be spent toward heritage conservation
RETROactive: Exploring Alberta's Past (Blog):
- Municipal Historic Resource designation refresher series: heritage value
- Municipal Historic Resource designation refresher series: Determining eligibility
- Municipal Historic Resource designation refresher series: Determining significance
- Municipal Historic Resource designation refresher series: character-defining elements
- Municipal Historic Resource designation refresher series: Statements of Significance
Alberta's Municipal Heritage:
- Part 1 - Identifying Historic Places: Conducting a Municipal Heritage Survey (PDF, 13 MB)
- Part 2 - Identifying Historic Places: Heritage Survey Field Guide (PDF, 22 MB)
- Part 3 - Identifying Historic Places: Heritage Survey Codes (PDF, 16 MB)
- Part 4 - Evaluating Historic Places: Eligibility, Significance and Integrity (PDF, 10 MB)
- Part 5 - Managing Historic Places: Protection and Stewardship of Your Local Heritage (PDF, 9 MB)
- Part 6 - Managing Historic Places: Designating Municipal Historic Resources (PDF, 2.5 MB)
The Standards and Guidelines for the Conservation of Historic Places in Canada provides further guidance for how to make conservation decisions.