Heritage buildings are essential pieces of culture for many Islanders. To developers, they’re often prime real estate.
Communities often rally to save century-old structures from being demolished for development, simply because of their historic value.
The Lantzville community is rallying to save their heritage church, but they’ve got a lot more riding on their efforts.
The Church has functioned as the home for Thinking Garden Early Childhood Centre, a much-beloved and needed daycare service since 2016.
If they lose the Church, they also lose their daycare.
The Lantzville District doesn’t seem to see the issue.
They’ve just served Thinking Garden Early Childhood Centre, a much-beloved daycare service housed in the town’s heritage church, a two-month eviction notice.
They’ve cited decade-old seismic concerns as the reason for eviction, but residents don’t seem convinced.
“This structure has always been a cornerstone of the Lanzville community,” said local Ed Jewer.
“The claimed issues with the structure would not be insurmountable to remedy – which implies there are other factors that are not being openly discussed. Slow down and engage with the community!”
The Church is old, so it likely has seismic issues. However, the assessment was performed ten years ago by a now-discredited architect.
“Seems the seismic safety is always the reason when they want to get rid of heritage buildings in Nanaimo. Real reason … money talks, heritage walks,” said Janice Hamilton, another protestor.
You can find many similar sentiments in the discussions and comments around the Go Fund Me and Facebook advocacy posts that have been posted about the issue.
Curiously, there’s been no similar discussion from town representatives.
As Colin Spensley, a father whose daughter has been attending Thinking Garden, told Times Colonist – the radio silence on the topic from local council members has said volumes.
“When they decided to condemn the second-oldest historic building in Lantzville, there’s just been nothing,” Spensley says.
But Spencer, the school’s teachers, other parents and kids aren’t staying quiet. They have no choice but to be loud.
“There’s no alternative. There’s no childcare out there that we can find,” said Spencer.
For the moment, the district has only said that they will be taking the keys to the building, managed by the Seaside Community Center, on July 21st.
There is a GoFundMe and petition available to support a reevaluation and repairs to the Heritage Church, and more info can be found on Thinking Garden’s website.
