Mike W. Bryant
Northern News Services
Wednesday, February 28, 2007

YELLOWKNIFE - A plan to erect a plaque commemorating Yellowknife's downtown post office as a city heritage site was shelved after federal officials refused to allow it.

Municipal officials and the city's Heritage Committee had hoped to have a bronze plaque affixed to the outside wall of the post office last week in time for Heritage Week festivities.

"It's disappointing," said Catherine Pellerin, chair of the Heritage Committee.

"Especially as the national theme for Heritage Day was ‘Canada's vernacular architecture,' which is the places we go to every day that are not necessarily architect-designed," Pellerin said.

City council voted to make the 52-year-old building a city heritage site last November. Public Works Canada owns the building.

The City Heritage Committee subsequently commissioned a plaque, dedicating the post office as one of downtown Yellowknife's oldest buildings and as an important gathering place for residents.

The purchase of the plaque was cancelled soon afterwards.

Mayor Gord Van Tighem said the trouble began after a Public Works official complained that the department wasn't properly consulted.

He isn't sure but has an idea why Public Works refused to allow the plaque to go up.

When the federal government, under Parks Canada's Federal Heritage Review Office, declares a building a heritage site, in most cases the designation doesn't apply unless building is at least 60-years-old.

"This whole community is not even 75-years-old yet," said Van Tighem.

"The big trick is most communities lose their heritage before they declare it.

"In our case, we have the opportunity to pick what's important and carry on."

Eight buildings have been deemed city heritage sites over the years, including the Wildcat Cafe, the Hudson's Bay building, in Old Town, and the old Toronto Dominion Bank on Latham Island.

Anne Pratt, a spokesperson for Public Works, said she was still trying to find out the exact reason behind the department's decision but said the problem likely had to do with the city's plans to permanently affix the plaque to the post office.

"There's no reason why they can't put the thing from the city in a frame and post it in the lobby of the building, but to actually affix a plaque to a building is only done in two cases with federal buildings," said Pratt.

The first is for federally-designated heritage sites.

The other is when a new federal building is being named and recognized in an official ceremony, such as the new federal Greenstone Building on Franklin Ave.

Pratt read a Public Works letter to the city: "Because it's a federal facility, a third-party plaque should not be affixed to the building."

"That's where they're running into trouble," said Pratt.