KEYNOTE SPEECH:
"Changing Attitudes in Society Toward Urban Development & Environmental Protection"
About Our Keynote Speaker:
Paul Berton is editor-in-chief of The London Free Press. He started with the newspaper 15 years ago. He previously worked at a variety of newspapers, including the Toronto Star & the Kitchener-Waterloo Record. His writing has appeared in Toronto Life, Maclean's, & other magazines. Paul has a degree in English & history from the University of Western Ontario & a degree in journalism from Carleton University in Ottawa.
Paul will speak on the changing attitudes in society toward urban development & environmental protection.
Presenter: Paul Berton
Editor-in-Chief, The London Free Press
London, Ontario
"London's Heart is Beating Again - The Revitalization of Downtown"
The City of London knows there is no one solution to preserving & revitalizing their historic downtown. Instead, the answers are found in many different solutions that create synergies between old & new buildings to make London's Downtown come alive. The City has led by example, restoring historic Victoria Park, the Labatt Baseball Park, & enhancing the Forks of the Thames River. Financial incentives through the City's Downtown Heritage Strategy offer historic downtown property owners opportunities to reposition their buildings as highly desirable, unique accommodations for a wide variety of purposes. Mainstreet, a programme based in Washington, D.C., was established in London to serve as the "glue" that makes all the revitalization efforts work. There is a strong heartbeat in the city's historic core, one that assures us that sustainable development & redevelopment downtown is positive change that meets the needs of the present without compromising either the future or the past.
Christine's credentials include a MA in archaeology from UCLA, a BA in Art History from UCLA & courses in Conservation in Field Archaeology from the Getty Conservation Institute. She has been an instructor at UWO in the Anthropology & Social Sciences departments & was the chair of the London Advisory Committee on Heritage (LACH) from Jan. 1999 to Sept 2000.
Presenter: Christine Nelson
Heritage Planner - City of London
"A Heritage Revitalization Strategy for Downtown Sarnia (It was there all the time)"
After many disappointing setbacks, in the year 2000, the Sarnia LACAC, in conjunction with the City of Sarnia, undertook a Downtown Façade Improvement Implementation Project.
The presentation will provide a chronology of the project; illustrating how the project was strategically initiated, how it was marketed, the public participation process, the development of a downtown theme & finally, the rehabilitation of several downtown blocks. The pre-sentation will document façade improvements to the Front Street riverside block, the Christina Street core area, & other heritage blocks within the downtown. It will also provide a model of how this approach can be used in other Ontario downtowns.
Presenter: Juri E. Berzins
Urban Designer
B.L.A., M.L.A.U.D., O.A.L.A.
"An Update on the Federal Heritage Property Initiative ("HPI"), The Provincial Government Efficiency Act, The Proposed Amendments to The Ontario Heritage Act & Where Do We Go From Here?"
The time is long overdue to emphasize the "heritage is development." "Heritage" is not a collection of artifacts: it is a process that involves a specific kind of ongoing investment & work. It is good management for a specific kind of older real estate, capitalizing on its distinctive feature, making it look as it was intended, & bringing its mechanical/electrical systems up to the standard of our new century.
The presenter worked on two recent reports on actually solving the problem instead of papering over it. One was for St. John's (which has almost as many buildings in its heritage districts as all of Ontario put together - & originally in more desperate shape); that report won a National Award from the Canadian Institute of Planners. A similar team did a report entitled, Toronto Old Town - Growth with Continuity. They called for "heritage-friendly develop-ment" with four main messages:
* The objective is to make the place a distinctive & attractive area for residents, workers, & visitors; but, the local potential for heritage-friendly development needs to be marketed.
* Nurture a general view that what heritage building & districts need is development, & lots of it, but of a kind that supports & enhances distinctive character.
* The public sector's best role is to act as a catalyst for change: defining the vision, upgrading skills & bringing people together to improve networking & to initiate pilot projects.
* Most important of all, success depends upon fostering self-sustaining heritage-friendly development.
Marc Denhez is a lawyer practising in heritage (buildings, districts, archaeology & folklore), & industrial organization (residential construction & renovation, certification & tax). He taught in the planning schools of four universities & has some 300 works published in seven countries.
Presenter: Marc Denhez
B.A., B.C.L.
"Comparison of a Victorian House, a 1950's House, & a Contemporary House"
The presentation will also include a study of storefronts: how downtown revitalization relates to our pioneers cutting trees.
After graduating Architectural Technology from Fanshawe College, teaching with CUSO in Northern Nigeria, completing the Architecture Degree at Carleton University, attending an architectural conservation summer school at West Dean in England, & working for Christopher Borgal for six years, John settled in Goderich. The firm of John Rutledge Architect specializes in contextually sympathetic renovations, which respect the original architectural styles of old homes, barrier-free upgrades to older churches, storefront restorations & renovations.
Presenter: John Rutledge, Architect
B. Arch., D.A.T., OAA
"Talbot of Canada: An Epic Saga"
Upon its premier in 1942, Talbot of Canada was hailed as Canada's first feature-length colour movie. The epic sage on land colonizer Colonel Thomas Talbot was written, directed, & performed by a London-based group of artists who made every penny of the film's $5,000 budget count. When the bulk of the movie was destroyed in an apartment fire, there was little hope it would ever be screened again. But, after an extensive four-year restoration, documentary producer Christopher Doty has reconstructed the film for a new generation of historians & Talbot enthusiasts. Chris' presentation at the CHO will take place almost 200 years to the day of the founding of the Talbot settlement.
Presenter: Christopher Doty
Doty Docs was founded in 1995 by Christopher Doty, a London, Ontario-based documentary producer & casual historian. The company was founded with the goal to create & foster audio/visual projects about London's history. Chris' talents as a documentary maker are a seamless blending of his persistence as a researcher, his perception as an interviewer, & his expertise as a writer.
"Waterloo Nations In Bloom"
In 2002, more than 600 cities from 50 countries competing with 42 finalists invited to Stuttgart Germany in October to choose global winners in each population category. An international panel of expert judges compared like-sized cities, using five specific criteria that carried equal marks. They were:
* Enhancement of The Landscape
* Heritage Management
* Environmentally Sensitive Practices
* Community Involvement
* Planning for the Future
As Chairman of Waterloo's bid (the only entrant from around the world that was volunteer driven), Mark Whaley was pleased to announce that his city was the Silver Award winner in their first attempt at competing. He believes that their incredible story is a perfect theme to fit the 2003 conference.
Presenter: Mark Whaley
Chair, Waterloo Nations In Bloom