Heritage Inventory:  Yes.
Heritage Designation:  No.
Why Endangered:  Neglect.  Facing demolition.

My Grandfather grew up in a small village called Brown Edge, in Staffordshire, England.  The family home was built in the 1600s – much older and preserved much longer than any home in New Westminster.  Heritage is taken seriously in our city, and yet, each year more demolitions are allowed, to clear the path for new development, or because a property has become derelict.  Yet there are homes like Galbraith House, once literally grey with age and in a state of collapse, now renovated to its former glory. 

If derelict heritage homes are dealt with through demolition that are less than 100 years old, how will homes be preserved as heritage for anything like the 400 years that my Grandfather’s little family farmhouse survived? Besides 616 Brantford, several New Westminster heritage properties face the threat of demolition.  616 Brantford, which has had a tree growing into the house for as long as I can remember, is not the only old derelict. 

And while these homes are rough, to say the least, many of the heritage homes in Queens Park today once were derelict before being restored.