With many of the buildings sat in the strip having their bay or oriel windows removed. Extensive renos that remove the fabric of the original building. Removing social culture that has come into being over the decades associated with built form, its great to see these two buildings and their owners celebrating, their buildings unique fabric.
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Just so you know, the paint job yellowed but they will be back to paint 2959 white when the temperature is up consistently. Also looking forward to our new windows in a month or so…they will be way more in keeping with the original look.
The reason a lot of people don't maintain the "original" look of a building is because of the cost. We received ZERO financial assistance from the city or anyone, and had to foot an extremely prohibitive bill for this upkeep (it was not structurally sound, and tin work is very expensive). We certainly cannot afford such things but had to go forward with it because it was unsafe and is heritage listed. Yes, the city has small grants, but the heritage grant we are not qualified for and the facade improvement grant was closed at the time and cannot be applied after the fact. Total bummer, but we're happy that the neighborhood will be able to enjoy this beautiful building as much as we do.
I applaud you for your great work!
yes great work, so good of you even after the facade grant was unavailable to you.
The maintenance work is definitely commendable and will be enjoyed. I can imagine that it wasn't cheap to restore a literally one-of-a-kind pressed metal facade, perhaps the only one remaining in this large city. More grants are needed, but so are more people willing to do the right thing and maintain buildings properly and contractors with the expertise and experience. With more expertise and a growing built heritage, the cost of doing restoration work can fall in time. But if no one does it, there's no incentive for many people to get into the business, and hence a lack of competition and high costs.