Better protections wanted for historical properties in Preston

After the former Preston Springs Hotel in Cambridge was brought to the ground earlier this month, a member of the city's Municipal Heritage Advisory Committee wants to see better protections for the other historical properties nearby.

Michelle Goodridge said this area is one of the oldest in the region, one that used to be bustling with tourism and was a main thoroughfare for highways.

“We really just want to try to do our best to protect what has been left,” she told The Mike Farwell Show on 570 NEWS.

She said there should be a heritage conservation district.

The area in question would encompass parts of Fountain Street, as well as side streets like Abraham Street and Jacob Street.

“If someone wanted to say, demolish a historic property, it would trigger additional processes (like a Heritage Impact Assessment,” Goodridge said.

It would also allow property owners to go apply for grant programs, and guidelines on how development happens in the area.

“It's not going to stop development — I don't want that, I'm very pro-development — but what it does do is it would set a standard,” she added.

“Anything that was built in this immediate area would be sympathetic, it would match the look and feel of the neighbourhood and we would maintain this historic, small town core feel.”

Goodridge said if you would like to reach out to her, you can do so through the Architectual Conservancy of Ontario Cambridge Facebook page or email heritage.cambridge@gmail.com