Coquitlam city council this week added its voice to the chorus of supporters who want to see Riverview Hospital on a top 10 list of the country's most endangered historic sites.
On Monday, city council unanimously voted to back the bid by the Riverview Horticultural Centre Society (RHCS), which last week - and after the deadline had passed - rushed to submit its application for the mental-health facility to be included on the 2012 Heritage Canada Foundation list of endangered places.
Councillors Craig Hodge and Neal Nicholson, chair and vice-chair of the city's Riverview lands advisory committee, said foundation officials are now sifting through the paperwork from dozens of groups across Canada.
And they pressed Coquitlam council to make an on-the-spot decision to write a letter immediately to help the society rather than wait the usual two weeks for a notice of motion - a move that bristled several council members who felt blindsided by the sudden call to action.
"With this sort of thing, you piss me off," Coun. Terry O'Neill said, commenting on the lack of background information available to council before voting on the topic.
Coun. Brent Asmundson also criticized Hodge and Nicholson for the way the issue was handled. Dropping it on council's lap at the last minute, he said, shows "not a lot of respect" for the people elected to represent the community.
Mayor Richard Stewart, too, cautioned council for trending towards notices of motion that don't include staff reports or consultation. Last month, council banned shark fins from being sold in the city without hearing from the Asian restaurant owners or knowing what the penalties would be for violators.
In the case for Riverview, Stewart said he would have liked to have been more prepared. "I'm not certain it's one of the 10 most endangered," he said of the 99-year-old hospital grounds.
Still, despite the politics, councillors stressed the need to preserve the provincially owned site, which at one time housed more than 4,000 patients.
"It's important that we get on this year's list," Hodge said, adding the provincial government is currently undertaking a Heritage Conservation Plan for Riverview.
Coun. Mae Reid, who moved to expedite the issue at Monday's city council meeting, called the province a bad landlord for letting the former award-winning buildings deteriorate.
Yesterday, RHCS director Sue Haberger said she was pleased Coquitlam council would be adding a letter to the society's nomination package.
Every year, the foundation bases its decisions on key factors - the property's heritage value, its level of threat and the community support to keep it - "and it seems to me that Riverview fits the bill for all three," Haberger said. "I think Riverview should be number one on the endangered list."
Letters of support for the society's bid also have come in from the Burke Mountain Naturalists, the Riverview Preservation Society, the Riverview Hospital Historical Society as well as local heritage and garden clubs, she said.
Carolyn Quinn, director of communications for Heritage Canada Foundation, said a committee made up of officials in the building conservation and preservation fields will publish its list in September.
But Quinn said being on the list doesn't guarantee a heritage building will be saved. "In fact, some of our buildings on past lists are now on our 'worst losses' list," she said.
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Heritage Canada Foundation's top 10 endangered places list brings national attention to sites at risk due to neglect, lack of funding, inappropriate development and weak legislation. Here's last year's "winners":
Bank of Montreal building, Edmonton
Moose Jaw Civic Centre, Moose Jaw
Brighton Public School, Brighton
Cockshutt Office and Timekeeper's Building, Brantford
The Guild Inn, Toronto
Historic District of Sillery, Quebec City
Cape Jourimain Lighthouse, New Brunswick
Mount Allison Memorial Library, New Brunswick
Kays Brothers Building / Welsh and Owen Building, Charlottetown
Fisherman's Row Houses, N.L.
